Metro clears Capt. Fruge

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

Metro Police Capt. Carl Fruge, a 20-year veteran, has been exonerated of neglect-of-duty allegations stemming from an incident where it was alleged he failed to help a woman officer arrest a combative vagrant.

The Metro Internal Affairs Bureau announced its decision today clearing Fruge.

It was alleged that Fruge stood by and watched as a vagrant in a wheelchair attacked the female officer at the Arco station at Las Vegas Boulevard and Mesquite Avenue, near City Hall.

Witnesses said Fruge, a traffic captain who once served as Metro spokesman, was sitting on his motorcycle at the gas pumps when Officer Tanja Tavarez, a five-year veteran, was attacked and injured May 12.

"There was no evidence indicating that Capt. Fruge neglected to assist the officers in the arrest," Metro said in a news release. "Interviews revealed that there were substantial discrepancies in perception of the events and a failure of communication between Capt. Fruge and the officers."

Tavarez, 29, had stopped the vagrant, who, although in a wheelchair, had full use of his upper body. During questioning, police said, the man attacked her. As she fought him off, she called for backup. Fruge, 43, did not step in.

Tavarez's thumb bone was chipped and she pulled some tendons in her hand trying to fend off the man. Two officers responded a few minutes later and helped Tavarez.