LV officer indicted by grand jury

Bill Gang

Friday, Jan. 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Metro Police Officer Ron Mortensen was indicted on murder charges today by a Clark County grand jury in the drive-by shooting death of a Las Vegas gang member.

The vote to indict the 31-year-old rookie officer came after the grand jurors heard more than five hours of testimony behind closed doors -- including the story of fellow Officer Christopher Brady.

Brady, 24, came forward three days after the Dec. 28 shooting on the known gang turf of McKellar Circle and admitted he was driving when Mortenson fired six shots at a group standing outside an apartment. Brady and Mortensen left the shooting scene and went to a bar to celebrate Mortensen's birthday.

Daniel Mendoza, 21, was hit once in the heart. No one else was injured.

Mendoza's girlfriend, gang members and family huddled on the courthouse steps as the grand jury listened to Brady's story and to numerous other witnesses and investigators.

The girlfriend earlier in the day joined about 30 other demonstrators who marched in front of the Clark County Courthouse to protest the shooting and the decision by the district attorney's office not to charge Brady.

The vocal, sign-carrying protesters elicited honks and other responses from many of those driving by the courthouse.

Mortensen, who is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center with the kinds of people he used to arrest, will be arraigned later this month before a District Court judge.

At that time, defense attorney Frank Cremen is expected to seek a reduction in Mortensen's $500,000 bail that was set Wednesday by Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo.

Cremen had asked that bail be set at $100,000, but Abbatangelo said the nature of the shooting raised concerns about the safety of the community.

Cremen argued that Mortensen is a family man and not a flight risk, but Deputy District Attorney John Lukens pointed to the seemingly random nature of the incident at 537 McKellar Circle as a community-safety issue.

Lukens said at that hearing that the death penalty would not be sought against Mortensen.

At an earlier hearing, District Attorney Stewart Bell said that because of the high profile nature of the case, "It is important the public understand that everyone is treated equally. If he gets bail when others don't, the public's perception of the justice system may be damaged."

But many in the public, including prosecutors and police officers, have expressed concern that Brady is not facing charges.

That was the focus of much of the protest Thursday outside the courthouse.

It was Brady's pickup that was driven to the cul-de-sac where words were exchanged with members of the 18th Street gang before the shots were fired.

The murder weapon, registered to Mortensen, was recovered from the pickup, but it had been handled by at least two people -- including Brady -- before any fingerprint tests could be done, sources close to the intestigation have said.

The pickup, although it underwent testing, was not impounded as evidence. The defense is expected to claim that Mortensen has been denied his due-process rights to have the vehicle independently examined.