Posted on: December 5, 2024, 07:16h.
Last updated on: December 5, 2024, 07:17h.
The man who allegedly shot at a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officer on Friday night after a high-speed chase was charged this week.
Jaime Mendoza, 54, faces seven counts following the North Las Vegas confrontation and earlier reported sex assault and kidnapping.
They include: attempted murder of a first responder, resisting a public officer with a firearm, first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon, sexual assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, auto burglary, and evading.
The incident began shortly before 10 p.m. on Friday as officers investigated a reported sex assault and kidnapping on North Christy Lane in Nevada’s Sunrise Manor neighborhood, according to Las Vegas TV station KTNV.
Mendoza had fled the scene in a Toyota RAV4, police said. Officers soon spotted the vehicle and tried to stop it at about 10:26 p.m.
Mendoza then accelerated the vehicle at a “high rate of speed,” police said. He was able to avoid getting stopped while near Owens Avenue and Marion Drive.
Vehicle Crashed Into Tree
Two officers in a patrol car soon spotted the Toyota near the intersection of Tonapah Avenue and Bruce Street.
The officers began a pursuit until the suspect’s vehicle crashed into a palm tree and car on North Las Vegas Boulevard — about a half mile from where police first spotted the vehicle.
Mendoza jumped out of the Toyota and ran away, police said. Officers followed him.
Mendoza allegedly fired a shot at one of the officers. The officers took cover.
Shooter Was Wounded
One of the officers then returned gunfire. Four shots were fired. Mendoza was wounded in his left leg. Despite his injuries, Mendoza was able to flee the scene and disappeared, police said.
Police began a manhunt for Mendoza, calling him “armed and dangerous.” On Sunday, he was arrested while on Linn Lane in Sunrise Manor.
Because of the wounds, officers took him to University Medical Center. After treatment, he was booked at the Clark County Detention Center. Mendoza remains in custody in the jail as of Thursday morning.
His case was turned over to local prosecutors. If convicted on the charges, he faces many years in prison.
Police didn’t release details on the sex assault and kidnapping for which Mendoza was charged.
Under routine LVMPD practice, the department placed the officer involved in the shooting, Marcos Gomez, 33, on paid administrative leave while the details are reviewed. The review will likely see if the officer was justified in using deadly force.
No officer was injured in Friday’s exchange of gunfire.
The shooting was the 14th officer-involved shooting so far this year in LVMPD’s jurisdiction, police revealed.