Metro bike cop shoots teen in scuffle

A Metro Police bike officer shot a 16-year-old boy Thursday night as he was being dragged alongside the teen's car. It was the third officer-involved shooting in the past five weeks.

The teen was hit in the shoulder about 11:40 p.m. Thursday and was listed in serious condition this morning at University Medical Center.

The bike patrol officer says he saw the teen selling drugs in the parking lot of a convenience store in the area of Sierra Vista Drive and Cambridge Street. The teen got into the driver's side of a car and another man got into the passenger side, Metro Capt. Greg Jolley said.

"Witnesses said they had seen the 16-year-old dealing drugs earlier in the night," Jolley said.

The teen is accused of selling drugs and the officer went up to the car to arrest the teen. The officer, who had his gun drawn, reached inside the open driver's side window and tried to grab the keys out of the ignition, Jolley said. As the officer was struggling with him, the teen is accused of putting the car into gear and starting to drive away with the officer's head and shoulders inside the car. The officer fired one shot hitting the driver in the shoulder, Jolley said.

The officer freed himself and the car sped out of the parking lot. The teen lost control of the car going around a corner, went off the road and hit a tree.

The teen faces obstruction, resisting arrest, curfew and drug-related charges, police said. The 42-year-old male passenger in the teen's car was not charged. The officer was put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. It is Metro Police policy to wait two days before identifying an officer involved in a shooting.

The teen's shooting comes a little more than a week after a Metro narcotics officer shot an 18-year-old man as he was being dragged alongside a minivan during an arrest attempt.

Detective Jeffrey Vialard fired three shots Dec. 29 about 8:50 p.m. in the parking lot of the Fiesta hotel-casino as he was being dragged alongside a minivan driven by 18-year-old Brandon Broyles, said North Las Vegas Police, who are investigating the shooting because it occurred in that city's limits.

Broyles is accused of driving off when undercover officers -- who were wearing vests identifying them as police -- tried to arrest the teen and two others inside the minivan. Vialard's hand got tangled up inside the minivan when he tried to pull out one of the suspects who apparently picked up a shotgun from the minivan's floor, police said.

Broyles was listed in fair condition this morning in University Medical Center. The third recent officer-involved shooting occurred Dec. 5 when Metro Officer Dennis Devitte, who was off duty at the time, shot and killed 19-year-old Emilio Rodriguez during a robbery attempt at Mr. D's sports bar on Rainbow and Oakey boulevards.

Rodriguez was one of three gunmen who burst into the bar. Devitte was shot several times during the gun battle. Five customers inside the crowded bar were shot by the gunmen, police said. The two other gunmen fled and have not been apprehended. A coroner's inquest into Rodriguez's death is scheduled for Jan. 13.

archive