Jesus Carvajal, left, and Tommy Provost. Provost is accused of impersonating a police officer and coercing several victims into sexual acts in Las Vegas. Carvajal was wrongfully accused in the crimes.
Thursday, March 7, 2019 | 2 a.m.
An online search for Jesus Carvajal immediately yields news articles that identify him as a suspect in sexual assaults in which the perpetrator posed as a cop in downtown Las Vegas.
His mug shot is plastered on a Google image search page.
That’s what his family, friends and prospective employers see.
It’s what he sees every day.
It reminds him of last year when he spent three weeks locked up, about how he lost his job, and how acquaintances and strangers turned on him on the internet — and in real life.
His life was in tatters after being accused of crimes he didn’t commit. Carvajal has resorted to therapy, unable to exorcise the embarrassment of being hauled off by police one ominous August night.
What about when he encounters his neighbors while setting out trash cans or doing yard work — do they still associate him as the suspect they once saw on TV or online? Carvajal wonders.
“People believe in the news,” he said Wednesday. “You tend to believe that.”
The harrowing experience motivates Carvajal to seek reform to the criminal justice system, as wrongfully accused people often need assistance to bounce back.
Metro Police on Aug. 10 said they’d arrested Carvajal, who they claimed had impersonated a police officer and coerced at least four victims into sexual acts by telling them he was an undercover cop and that he would bust them if they didn’t comply.
Police sent out a news release announcing Carvajal’s arrest. They attached his mug shot.
After spending three weeks at the Clark County Detention Center, where Carvajal was booked on counts that included sexual assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and impersonating an officer, he was out on house arrest.
The charges were dropped two months later, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
The day before the case was dismissed, police arrested Tommy Provost, 34, and accused him of the crimes instead. But police that time did not send out arrest information and a mug shot like they did in August.
According to police, a victim gave detectives information that led them to Provost, his car, and items described by his alleged victims.
“Due to additional evidence obtained during the investigation,” Metro said in an email statement, “Provost was identified as the suspect in these cases and the district attorney dropped the charges against Carvajal.”
On first look, Carvajal and Provost resemble each other in mug shots.
In pursuing charges against Carvajal, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office determined “there was sufficient probable cause to have arrested him,” the office said in a statement.
"While the case was pending, we received credible information from (Metro) that Mr. Carvajal was factually not guilty of the crime and immediately dismissed the case,” the statement said. “At all times, the (DA’s office) acts appropriately in ensuring that the guilty are held accountable and that the innocent are set free.”
Carvajal said he never heard from Metro or the DA’s office. He at least wanted an apology.
When he was arrested, he said, he was identified through a photo lineup.
But if the process had been different, with his whole body shown, police may have noticed he stands substantially taller than Provost and is heavier than him, he said.
Police said their cars were similar, but Carvajal noted that his Dodge Caliber does not look like Provost’s Dodge Charger.
He said he is a shooting enthusiast who owned tactical-style gear, large Rambo-style knives and regular kitchen knives.
But he wasn't their guy, he maintained.
Among the items police took was a reflective vest he used at work. Carvajal said he didn't understand how the vest could have been confused for police attire? They didn't take any of his tactical gear, he said.
Then there was a phone number that had linked the crime scene to the suspect (later determined to be Provost) and to the house the innocent man was now renting.
But that number had been used a year before Carvajal had moved in, he said.
Due to his arrest, Carvajal lost his job as a supervisor with a company that contracts with Amazon deliveries. He lost his car, which he is still paying for, and he lost his reputation, Carvajal said. His credit is “shot.”
It is the “most horrible eye-opener ever to realize how many people would turn on you,” said Carvajal, noting that he’s had various job interviewers unexpectedly cancel meetings.
Carvajal said he respects police yet would like to see changes with the photo lineups and how information is disseminated to the public.
When he was told the good news that the case was tossed, Carvajal was elated. He cried. But he was also left with a “very bad taste in his mouth” of what he’d just suffered.
But he doesn’t want to stay silent, he said. “I’m a fighter. I believe in our rights.”
