Officer called ‘average, quiet’

Cathy Scott

Friday, Jan. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Those who knew Metro Police Officer Ron Mortensen, charged with killing a gang member during a drive-by shooting, say the act was "out of character" for the rookie cop they described as "average."

Capt. Mark Medina, who heads the southwest substation where Mortensen worked, described him as "an ordinary guy."

"He came to work, he did his job," Medina said. "Nothing out of the ordinary, just an ordinary employee. He was just an ordinary guy -- nothing spectacular, nothing stellar, nothing negative, nothing positive.

"He was not a loner. (But) there is nothing about this guy that was noteworthy. He was a regular, average police officer during his short tenure here."

Mortensen's family told homicide detectives the act was out of character for Mortensen and described him as "a quiet guy."

Ronald Lawrence Mortensen, 31, hired on with Metro on Aug. 29, 1995. He attended the police academy for 19 weeks and field training for 13 weeks before being assigned to patrol, Medina said.

Mortensen was assigned to patrol on March 16 making him a patrol officer for just nine months of his 16-month service.

Mortensen grew up in Las Vegas and graduated from Valley High School in 1984. Counselors and teachers don't recall anything about him, some said Thursday. The only photo taken of him during his high school years was published in the 1983 yearbook.

In 1987, Mortensen was issued a work card at the Tropicana hotel-casino for room service. Earlier that year, he worked at Tramps at 4505 W. Flamingo Road as a doorman.

Recorded in Mortensen's police record is a Feb. 2, 1991, domestic violence incident, listing him as the victim of a battery by a woman.

According to the Henderson Police Department's records division, the incident occurred when Mortensen and his girlfriend were asleep in her apartment, and the woman's roommate came home and started hitting the couple, Henderson Police said. When officers arrived, Mortensen and his girlfriend were gone, so the roommate was not arrested, police said.

Mortensen married Christine Yates Zoe on July 2, 1994. They recently purchased a new home in Henderson, according to Clark County records. They also had a baby last year.

Mortensen was issued a gaming card as a security officer at Davey's Locker, a bar at 1159 Desert Inn Road, in June 1995. He tested for police officer on May 8, 1995.

On the evening of Dec. 27, Mortensen and fellow Officer Christopher Brady, 31, stopped at McKellar Circle, where Mortensen allegedly fired six shots, one of which killed 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza. The officers were driving from a birthday party for Mortensen in a southeast area home to PT's Pub at West Spring Mountain Road and Arville Street.

A bartender at PT's, who asked that her name not be used, said she knew Mortensen because he often went to the bar with other officers, but added, "I didn't know him that well."

Mortensen's co-workers at the southwest substation said they, too, didn't know him well because he was only there for a short time and worked on the graveyard shift.

They say they didn't really know him other than he was a "real quiet guy," Medina said.

Ed Rothenberg, who was arrested by Mortensen on Aug. 6, said he remembers Mortensen well and wasn't surprised when he learned of his involvement in the drive-by.

"He was not polite to me at all," said Rothenberg, who contacted the SUN after news of the shooting broke. "He was going to have it his way or no way at all. I knew he was a rookie."

Rothenberg had stopped his car at 3 a.m. on Valley View Boulevard near Pennwood Avenue after driving with a flat tire for about three blocks. He said he got out of his car, left his keys on the floor and walked around the car to check out the flat. About five minutes later, Mortensen and another officer in another patrol car stopped.

"I thought, 'Great, they're going to help me change my tire,'" Rothenberg said.

Instead, Mortensen took away Rothenberg's license and arrested him for driving under the influence. Rothenberg's attorney plea bargained it down to misdemeanor reckless driving two weeks before Mortensen was arrested.

During a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing, Administrative Law Judge David Schreiber admonished Morten sen for taking away Rothenberg's license, stating that Mortensen claimed there was cause to keep the license based on alcohol tests, even though the lab results had not yet been determined, the judge said. Later, Mortensen tried to change the date of the document, the judge said.

"It is virtually impossible for the officer to have had reasonable grounds to issue the officers' Certification of Cause prior to his learning of the results of the analysis," Schreiber said when he ordered that Rothenberg's license be returned to him.

Rothenberg contends that he should have been charged with drunkenness in public, not with a DUI. Lab tests showed he was over the legal limit.

"I wasn't driving the car when he stopped his car," he said. "I was out of my car."

SUN REPORTER Bill Gang contributed to this story.