Tuesday, July 2, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.
At first, Trooper Guy Davis thinks the noise he is hearing is a broken fan belt -- the result of the collision he just witnessed between a white Lincoln Town Car and the Honda he had pulled over just moments before.
The impression only lasts a matter of seconds.
"As soon as I heard the thumping noises I observed the driver's side window of the Lincoln shatter. The driver leaned forward, the horn of the Lincoln started going off and the engine revved up."
Instantly, Davis realizes the driver of the Lincoln has been shot and now he's being shot at too.
In fear for his life, Davis runs for cover and fires his weapon at the young man who has materialized next to the Lincoln. As the young man runs away, Davis realizes he has been shot in the foot.
Several hours later, Davis learns a suspect has been caught -- but not before carjacking a young family, leading police on a high speed chase and killing another man in a car crash.
Details of Davis' ordeal are contained within grand jury transcripts recently released in the Giles Manley case. Manley faces 12 felony counts including two counts of open murder in the events of May 8.
On Monday, Clark County prosecutors announced they will be seeking the death penalty for Manley, who was just shy of 17 when Davis was shot and Isaac Perez, 21, and Patrick Melia, 41, were killed.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said four aggravating circumstances exist in the Manley case that warrant death by lethal injection.
Lalli said Manley knowingly created a risk of great harm or death to more than one person, killed more than one person and killed them during the course of a robbery, burglary or kidnapping.
Lalli also alleges Manley committed the crimes to avoid arrest.
Manley's attorney could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
According to the grand jury transcripts, the start of the crime spree was caught on videotape.
Tamara Leet, a computer specialist, told grand jurors that video surveillance tapes show Perez being forced to walk away from his custodian duties at Ruth Fyfe Elementary School and into his car.
It's believed that Perez, in a desperate plea for help, ran his car into the Honda that Davis had pulled over on U.S. 95 near Eastern Avenue.
Davis got a glimpse of Perez's face moments before the crash.
He "looked over at me with a troubled look like 'I'm in trouble,' " Davis told grand jurors.
Rexene Worrell, a forensic pathologist, testified Perez was shot five times in the head and neck. Most of the shots were from close range. There were also signs that he had been pistol-whipped.
After the suspect ran from the collision on U.S. 95, he allegedly met up with Cecilia Aremendariz and Herbierto Casas at Casa Latina Records on Eastern Avenue. The couple had stopped at the store with their 10-month-old daughter, Jennifer, to buy a phone card after picking up some groceries.
Casas told grand jurors he had just decided to get back into his SUV after hearing gunshots when someone ran up and pointed a gun at him. While he begged the man to just take the vehicle and leave his wife and daughter unharmed, Casas said the man pointed the gun at him and Cecilia, who was still in the back seat with the baby.
"When I saw that he was pointing with his gun to the head of my husband, I just grabbed the child and I went out," Armendariz said.
The carjacker took off with the vehicle and, four hours later, found himself in a high speed chase with police.
After reportedly driving through numerous red lights in a 22-minute period, the suspect slammed into Melia's car at Vegas Drive and Decatur Boulevard. Melia suffered crushing injuries to his chest and many other injuries, Worrell said.
Manley was arraigned Monday; his trial was set for Feb. 18.
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