Police: Man in shooting was supposed to be on house arrest

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 | 4:27 p.m.

A man who exchanged gunfire with a Metro Police detective Saturday night is a five-time convicted felon who was supposed to be on house arrest, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said today.

Nobody was hit in the shooting, which happened about 9:40 p.m. in the 8500 block of Sahara Avenue, police said.

Jason Baker, 34, faces counts of attempted murder, resisting arrest while armed, possession of a gun by a prohibited person and firing a weapon where someone might become endangered, Zimmerman said. He was being held without bond, jail records show.

Detectives were looking or Baker, wanted in a series of valley burglaries, when they caught up with him outside a convenience store, Zimmerman said. Three days earlier, Baker had broken out of an ankle monitoring bracelet, he said.

Baker ran, firing one round from a handgun before he fell and aimed the gun at a detective, who then fired at Baker and missed, Zimmerman said. Baker fired one more shot, which also missed, before he ditched the gun and was taken into custody nearby, he said.

Baker complained of chest pain and a sprained ankle and was treated at University Medical Center before he was booked, Zimmerman said.

The detective, Travis Linder, was not equipped wearing a body camera, Zimmerman said. The only video came from a camera outside the convenience store and shows Baker running from detectives.

Baker, who five times has been convicted of property crimes, has been arrested at least 15 times in Nevada, Zimmerman said.

He was released in April on house arrest in a 2016 case in which he faces felony counts of burglary, grand larceny and possession of stolen property, Clark County District Court records show.

Linder, an 11-year Metro veteran, was placed on routine paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.