Naked man arrested after standoff

Karen Zekan

Tuesday, July 29, 1997 | 9:20 a.m.

A 57-year-old man faces felony charges after he paraded nude on his front porch during a 3 1/2-hour standoff with Metro Police.

Nelson Reagan stayed inside his trailer during almost an hour's worth of tear gas bombardment before emerging naked in the custody of SWAT officers shortly before 4 p.m. Monday.

Police believe he had opened windows and doors to vent the gas, which typically causes teary eyes, a scratchy throat and temporarily affects breathing.

"He was lying in bed grinning, like, 'Well, what do you know?' when the SWAT officers found him in the bedroom," said Capt. Randy Oaks. "He was apparently very drunk."

Reagan is accused of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly pointing a gun at an officer and obstructing police -- both felony charges. If convicted, he could receive sentences of one to five years, Oaks said.

A report of a domestic dispute about 12:15 p.m. Monday led police to Reagan's residence in the Three Crowns Mobile Home Park at 867 N. Lamb Boulevard, near Washington Avenue.

Reagan's wife met the first responding officer outside.

"She told him her husband had been drinking and had gone to get his shotgun," Oaks said. "The officer was trying to get her to take cover when the man came out the door with an old-fashioned rifle."

The officer yelled three times to no avail for Reagan to "Drop the gun!" as the man aimed the 30.06 rifle back and forth from his wife to the officer, Oaks said.

Reagan then lowered the weapon a few degrees and retreated inside the trailer.

Police established a perimeter around the property and began evacuating the mobile homes closest to the residence on the north end of the Ruby Court cul-de-sac bordered to the west by a vacant lot.

Metro's Special Weapons and Tactics team responded minutes later and called for the evacuation of more mobile homes on the park's nearby streets because of Reagan's potentially dangerous high-powered rifle.

"The wife came unglued when all of this was going on," Oaks said. "She was concerned for her pets."

Her three dachshunds, scampered out the front door, which police said Reagan opened after the first volley of tear gas exploded in the trailer.

Negotiations with Reagan proved fruitless. A sergeant was able to get Reagan to answer the phone, but Oaks said the belligerent barricaded man refused to come out or throw out his weapons during the 10-minute conversation.

SWAT approached the residence in their armored peacekeeper vehicle, and unsuccessfully tried via a bullhorn to talk Reagan into surrendering.

Officers fired a series of wooden baton rounds into the residence as a tactical move to startle him and Reagan responded by opening the front door and making obscene gestures, Oaks said.

"SWAT felt that the man was not taking their presence seriously and deployed 10 tear gas rounds approximately over an hour, timed about 10 minutes apart," Oaks said.

When the man still would not come out, SWAT slowly made entry and found Reagan in bed in a rear bedroom. Police said he put up a fight, but was brought under control, handcuffed and escorted out the door and on to the Clark County Detention Center.

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