Cops probed for theft

Rachael Levy

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 1997 | 9:41 a.m.

Metro Police investigators suspect some officers may be illegally trading police property for expensive body-building supplements after cans of ammunition were seized from a vitamin store owner, sources said.

A criminal investigation was launched Monday and detectives are tracing the lot numbers of rounds for a .308-caliber rifle and other ammunition and weapons taken from the home of Richard and Barbara Bounce, owners of Wild Cheetah Nutritional Center.

Also seized were vitamins, protein drinks and other body-building pills that police believe were stolen. No steroids were found, police said.

Contrary to initial police statements, the several thousand rounds of ammunition were stored in unmarked military cans, not ones labeled as police property, Deputy Chief Mike Hawkins said.

"Our biggest emphasis right now it trying to establish where the ammo came from," he said.

By tracing the lot numbers, detectives hope to determine the ammunition's ownership. If the rounds belong to Metro, the lot numbers will tell whether they were from a current supply or were among the property stolen when Metro's firing range was burglarized 1 1/2 years ago.

The seizing of the rifle rounds, which can be purchased from most sporting goods stores, concerns police officials because it is the same ammunition issued to SWAT officers.

"Metro does not suspect officers are trafficking in stolen goods," said Hawkins, who made a distinction between theft and converting public property for personal use. When asked if the personal use of public property was a crime, he said, "You bet it is."

Law enforcement officers were frequent customers at Wild Cheetah. Behind the store's cash register hung an autographed picture of Metro's SWAT team and the words, "To Rich and Barbara -- Thanks for keeping us pumped up." Also on the wall: a framed 10-year-old poster from U.S. Secret Service in Las Vegas and a plaque with a firefighter's hat.

The SWAT poster was made in 1995, when the officers were ranked best in the nation by the National Tactical Officers Association. SWAT members regularly hand out the posters at school and community events, said a source close to the special forces team.

The internal criminal investigation has left the SWAT team feeling under the microscope and left rank-and-file officers confused and demoralized, according to police officials and sources.

"The real story is that the (store owner) got caught for possession of stolen property, but it's gotten so twisted and blown out of proportion that now it's only SWAT that's in trouble -- and that sells papers," said one source.

Officials close to the investigation said Friday's raid of the home and business generated from a tip that a fencing operation was dealing not only in stolen vitamins and protein drinks, but in police ammunition.

Statements made to police support suspicions that officers were exchanging police property for body-building supplements that cost as much as $90 for a two-week supply, sources said.

Other ammunition seized Friday were rounds for 9mm and 40-caliber guns (which are used by Metro and can be purchased by the public), two knives engraved with officer personal identification numbers and about 20 guns (none listed as stolen), police said.

Detectives have traced the ID numbers to the officers, but Hawkins declined to say what division or substation they were assigned to. One of the two officers who has been questioned told police the knife was given to Richard Bounce in friendship, Hawkins said.

During the police search of the store, a Metro officer walked in to return a gun his wife had purchased from the Bounces, Hawkins said. The gun was not stolen and police said they had no reason to suspect the officer was involved in the alleged illegal activity.

Bounce, who purchased the vitamin store in 1990, said he had a "wonderful working relationship" with law-enforcement officers and referred to the store as a "super substation of Las Vegas" because of the large number of customers who were police officers.

Bounce, 63, dismissed his arrest as an act of jealousy. He referred all other questions to attorney Oscar Goodman, who did not return telephone calls. Bounce and his wife, Barbara, 59, posted bail and are set to appear Sept. 15 in Justice Court.

Three separate investigations have been launched in response to the possible discovery of Metro ammunition. Besides the criminal investigation, there is an internal affairs probe focusing on whether officers violated department policy, and a probe to determine who within Metro leaked classified information to the SUN, officials said.

SUN REPORTER Karen Zeken contributed to this story.