Police may have overlooked gun

Karen Zekan

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Metro Police may have overlooked a handgun while searching for weapons on a handcuffed suspect who moments later barricaded himself in the back of a patrol car and fired at officers.

"The gun could've been missed on a pat down search," said Metro Sgt. Greg McCurdy. "When we arrest somebody off the street, we don't do a full body cavity search."

Patrol officers arrested John Neal, 37, of Las Vegas about 11 p.m. Wednesday and placed him in the back seat of a police car parked near Ogden Avenue and 11th Street.

Neal then allegedly fired multiple rounds from a handgun he had in his possession, police said. Authorities confirmed that the gun did not belong to any officers, and that all officers were in possession of their weapons at the time of the gunfire.

Neal maintained a three-hour standoff with police before SWAT officers were able to deploy gas to get him out of the car and take him into custody early Thursday.

Police booked Neal into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of robbery with a weapon and discharging a firearm at a structure, with bail set at $23,000. He is scheduled to answer to the charges Nov. 19 in Justice Court.

Neal had previously been released on his own recognizance from jail Tuesday on separate charges of robbery and battery with a deadly weapon, according to jail records.

McCurdy said Neal was initially arrested late Wednesday night on a grand larceny charge.

"He stole something from his father," McCurdy said. "It could've been the gun. I don't know. The arrest was made on probable cause."