Off-duty trooper aids in carjack arrest

Karen Zekan

Friday, May 15, 1998 | 2:28 a.m.

An off-duty Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who witnessed a bank robbery suspect carjack a senior citizen Thursday resorted to gunfire to slow the thief's getaway car before Metro Police could take him into custody.

Roy Burney Bell, 38, an ex-felon for robbery and burglary, was in handcuffs shortly before 6 p.m. after attempting to run from the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Russell Road where he rammed the hot car into another vehicle, Metro Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

The off-duty trooper who initiated the apprehension had been shopping in the Von's grocery store at 3325 E. Russell Road about 5:30 p.m. when he witnessed a man with a bandana over his face and guns in either hand approach a teller at the Bank of America branch inside the store, Petersen said.

As the suspect fled with a bank bag filled with cash, the trooper followed, arming himself with his off-duty weapon, police said.

The suspect then robbed a senior citizen at gunpoint, taking the elderly person's car and speeding out of the parking lot.

"As the suspect was driving away, the NHP trooper identified himself verbally," Petersen said. "The suspect pointed his weapon at the trooper as he was driving away. The trooper, fearing for the safety of citizens in the area ... (fired) two rounds in a downward direction at the tires of the vehicle in an attempt to disable it and prevent the suspect from escaping."

The trooper's rounds missed the tires, but responding Metro officers took up the chase and made the eventual capture. Police recovered the money and the suspect's weapons.

Bell was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of robbing a victim over 65, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. His court date is pending.

The trooper's identity was not immediately released.