Substation making a difference in Primm

Cathy Scott

Monday, Nov. 3, 1997 | 10:51 a.m.

PRIMM -- If it weren't for a new Nevada Highway Patrol substation here, a murder suspect may not have been caught -- at least not by Trooper Kenneth Twiddle.

The NHP substation opened last month in Primm, and after just 30 days troopers are reporting more stolen cars, more felony stops and slower motorists, as well as nabbing a suspect Metro Police say killed a man and buried him in the desert.

The substation, behind the Primm Valley hotel-casino and manned by a sergeant and four troopers, opened in Primm for that very purpose: to help Metro officers and to increase the NHP's presence on Interstate 15, said Lt. Jack Snyder, who oversees the Primm substation.

Primadonna Resorts, owner of Primm Valley, donated the building to the NHP.

"Since those guys have been out there, we're discovering more stolen vehicles and we're able to help more people," NHP spokesman Steve Harney said.

Twiddy ended up helping a kidnap victim after he stopped behind a parked car Oct. 26 on I-15 near Sloan. Twiddy, who had stopped to help 10 other motorists earlier in the evening, thought he was just helping a motorist in need.

He got a lot more than he bargained for.

As he walked up to the car, he saw a weapon and bloody clothing. He ordered the driver, 34-year-old Sebastion Bridges, out of the car and took him into custody. A passenger, Bridges' estranged wife, jumped out and yelled to the officer that her husband had just killed a man, police said. Twiddy called for backup and when officers arrived he turned the case over to Metro detectives.

Hours later, police went to a desert area about 200 yards from the Sloan turnoff and recovered a 27-year-old's body, Metro homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said. He had been shot to death.

NHP Sgt. Mark Phillips, Twiddy's supervisor, said Twiddy "probably prevented a second murder."

Bridges had allegedly "already broken his wife's arm during a pistol whipping," Phillips said.

Sept. 1 was Twiddy's first day on the job alone, after successfully completing his field training, Phillips said. For his first assignment with the NHP, Twiddy was sent to the Primm substation, near the California-Nevada border.

Harney said Twiddy and other troopers patrolling I-15 from the Interstate 40, or Lake Mead turnoff, to the Nevada-California line "slow motorists down by being more visible. That keeps motorists safe." Troopers also patrol Goodsprings and the old Los Angeles Highway.

Trooper Thomas Higgins said during one hour of a recent shift he found five stolen cars "dumped along I-15."

Thomas can often be seen using his radar gun in the center median at the state line to catch speeding motorists.

"The more frequently we're on traffic stops, the more people slow down," Phillips said. "The truckers broadcast that on their radios, and they all (trucks) slow down."

It's not the first time there's been a substation in Primm. Twelve years ago, Snyder said, there was a substation but it was open only for about two years. Phillips was a trooper back then, and returned as a sergeant.

"Back then, our manpower was so short we had to pull the troopers out," Snyder said.

Soon, Snyder said, the substation will be open 24 hours a day and have seven troopers and a sergeant. Today, it's open 16 hours a day.

"There's a place to race cars and there's a place to drive slowly," Harney said. "These guys (troopers) slow drivers down."