Off-duty cop hurt in shootout stumbled into neighborhood robbery

Something didn’t seem right to an off-duty Metro Police detective who’d walked outside his north valley house late Wednesday. Detective Austin Bone spotted his neighbor talking to a woman — and two men peering over a wall looking at them.

Sensing that the couple were in trouble, Bone, 33, went inside to grab his gun and phone. He returned outside to inadvertently foil a robbery and shoot it out with the suspects, according to Clark County Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said.

The detective’s hunch was spot on. It turned out that the woman, Crystal Garcia, 21, and four men had plotted to rob Bone’s neighbor after the woman had lured him online, Zimmerman said.

At first, Bone was only trying to be a good witness, taking note of the license plate number of a black Nissan Altima that had made a U-turn about 11:30 p.m. But then three men approached the detective, who was in plainclothes, telling him something along the lines of not wanting “any part of what is happening,” Zimmerman said.

One charged Bone, but the detective deflected the punch and pushed the suspect to the ground, Zimmerman said. A struggle ensued, and another suspect opened fire on Bone, shattering his femur and grazing his shoulder.

Bone returned fire, shooting 11 bullets and hitting two brothers — Devan Allen, 27, and Markquwon Allen, 25 — before the five suspects fled in the Nissan, Zimmerman said. Bone was expected to make a full recovery while the suspects were stabilized at the hospital. The detective was able to call 911.

The robbery victim got in his car and saw the Nissan outside the neighborhood, Zimmerman said. And he said it appeared as if a man was choking Garcia.

A suspect spotted Bone’s neighbor and began approaching with a firearm pointed at him, Zimmerman said. The robbery victim pulled out his own gun and fired two rounds, striking the car.

The suspects fled again, and shortly after were seen by Metro units in downtown Las Vegas, Zimmerman said. During a traffic stop, Johnathan Kentral Pennington and Marquise Allen took off running.

Garcia was arrested and the two brothers, who were in the backseat with gunshot wounds, were rushed to a hospital, Zimmerman said. Pennington was taken into custody at a later time, while Marquise Allen remains on the run.

The five suspects are facing single counts of attempted murder; conspiracy to commit murder; robbery with a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit robbery; battery with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit battery, court records show. The four men are convicted felons with a laundry list of prior criminal cases for violent acts.

Additionally, Devan Allen is wanted in Arizona in a case for "extreme" DUI, Zimmerman said. His brother is wanted in California in a robbery case.

The four men were not allowed to carry weapons. Police found one at the scene of the shooting and another in the car, Zimmerman said.