Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022 | 5:38 p.m.
Justin Venegas
The man accused of leading Metro Police on a lengthy chase across the Las Vegas Strip last week was arrested after crashing a vehicle he hijacked into a police K-9 vehicle at nearly 70 mph, assistant Clark County sheriff Andrew Walsh said Tuesday.
Ultimately, nobody was struck by gunfire, but the officer in the K-9 vehicle suffered minor injuries, including a concussion, Walsh said.
A total of five officers were involved in the shooting: Brendan Burbrink, 36, Cristian Majarro, 27, Alondra Montero, 24, Amanda Montalto, 31, and Mark Sayas, 35, Walsh said. The officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal review.
On Thursday, officers were conducting covert surveillance on Justin Venegas, 40, in reference to a criminal investigation stemming from a May carjacking, when about 7 p.m., Venegas was seen leaving his residence, Walsh said. After Venegas left his residence, officers alerted the Air Patrol unit to continue surveillance on his vehicle, and Walsh said they caught Venegas hijacking a white Chevrolet pickup truck at the corner of North Pecos Road and Cheyenne Avenue.
A pursuit was initiated after Venegas failed to stop for officers attempting to pull him over, Walsh said. Venegas allegedly opened fire with a 9 mm handgun on a police vehicle near East Craig Road and North Fifth Street, striking the windshield and prompting Burbrink to shoot through their windshield in an attempt to stop Venegas.
Throughout the chase, Venegas evaded officers through congested traffic and at times drove into oncoming traffic, reaching speeds of 100 mph, Walsh said.
The pursuit continued to the area of West Desert Inn Road and South Decatur Boulevard, where Venegas tried to steal another vehicle in a parking lot, Walsh said. Officers Burbrink, Mojarro, Montero, Montalto and Sayas fired at Venegas, who was able to escape uninjured to the area of Decatur and Charleston Boulevard.
That’s when Venegas intentionally rammed the K-9 vehicle at 67 mph, Walsh said. The officer in the vehicle — who was not named — has since been released from UMC, and the K-9, named Boris, was uninjured.
Venegas was taken into custody without incident and transported to the University Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries, Walsh said. He remains at the Clark County Detention Center on counts of attempted murder, robbery, battery, and discharging a gun into an occupied structure, according to jail logs.
Venegas was also booked in relation to the May incident, in which he allegedly carjacked a 73-year-old woman on counts of robbery with a deadly weapon with a victim over 60, assault with a deadly weapon with a victim over 60, assault with a deadly weapon and grand larceny, Walsh said.
Venegas is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court Aug. 23, according to his online case summary.
