Former cop arrested in killing was hired despite problems

Saturday, Feb. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

and Rachael Levy

Copyright 1997 LAS VEGAS SUN

The investigation into 147 Metro Police officers who may have been hired without background checks will not turn into a witch hunt, department brass promised.

"We're not going to label them and we're not going to put that cloud over them," Undersheriff Richard Winget said.

Metro officials were alerted to the inadequate background checks last month as they reviewed hiring and training processes in the wake of one of their officers being arrested on a murder charge.

Former Officer Ron Mortensen, who graduated from the September 1995 police academy, was not recommended for hire because of his combative behavior as a Dillard's department store security guard.

He was a Metro officer for 16 months before being arrested for allegedly shooting into a group of gang members and killing a 21-year-old man. Mortensen resigned Feb. 12. His friend and fellow officer, Chris Brady, who was driving the truck during the drive-by, also resigned.

"The goal of this is to fix any problems we had ... (but) not to target them for removal," Winget said.

The names of officers who fail background checks will be known only to top administrators.

The recommendation not to hire Mortensen was made by Officer Jose Montoya once he learned that Mortensen had been fired from Dillard's and also allegedly lied on his police application by failing to list a misdemeanor traffic arrest, according to internal Metro documents.

Montoya's recommendation was overruled by then-Personnel Director Richard Meyers.

Mortensen's background check was part of a growing backlog of incomplete background checks, according to internal documents prepared by Sgt. Robert Bazar, an acting personnel supervisor at the time.

Bazar, a 29-year Metro veteran, declined to comment for this story.

Several employees in personnel were interviewed last week by internal affairs investigators, including Bazar and Selection Director Katey Lavelle.

Bazar wrote that he met with Sheriff Jerry Keller in May 1995 to tell him about "serious background investigation problems, one of which was a police officer who had been hired with no background ever having been started."

"While in the supervising position, I learned that a number of people had been hired by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with absolutely no background being done on them, or their background was done weeks or even months after they had been hired," Bazar wrote.

Bazar reported to his supervisors that background Officer Stacey Rodd had on his office floor "a large cardboard box full of unopened (background) letters." Also, Bazar wrote that he counted 221 unopened letters. Rodd has since been promoted to sergeant.

In addition to hiring officers without proper background investigations, jail guards, a records technician, criminalistics specialist, commissary aide and laundry coordinator were put on the payroll without their histories being screened.

Once Bazar learned of Mortensen's arrest two days after the Dec. 28 shooting, Bazar pulled a background list to see who had done Mortensen's background check, internal documents said.

Learning it was Montoya, Bazar called him. Montoya told Bazar that he had contacted Dillard's, one of Mortensen's former employers.

"Mortensen had a problem with every arrest which almost always turned into a full-fledged battle," Bazar wrote. "Personnel at Dillard's became concerned about Mortensen's aggressive and combative behavior. ..."

Montoya also learned that Mortensen allegedly told Dillard's that he completed an 80-hour background school while he was in the military. When personnel at Dillard's challenged Mortensen when he could not produce a certificate, Mortensen quit, the documents said.

"Mortensen stalled Dillard's for over two months. ... Finally, Mortensen was advised that he had two more weeks ... or be terminated from Dillard's for lying to them. Before the two weeks were up, Mortensen resigned."

Montoya questioned Morten-sen, who replied that he quit to take another job, the documents said. Shortly after that conversation, Dillard's called Montoya to tell him that Mortensen had hired an attorney and that his Dillard's personnel records had been sealed in court, the documents said.

"The above information and facts show that Ronald Mortensen did intentionally try to hide and conceal derogatory employment information at Dillard's by hiring an attorney to seal his records ... and that he did falsify his employment application by stating that he had never been arrested. ..."

In a May 19, 1995, memo to Meyers, Bazar wrote: "The background section now is so screwed up and the quality of the background interviews are poor and, for the most part, below standard."

Meyers has since retired from the department.