New strategy helps police chase down robbery suspect

Jace Radke

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 11:50 a.m.

Using a new strategy, Metro Police rounded up a robbery suspect after a high-speed chase Wednesday night.

Police booked Douglas Kirk, believed to be in his mid-30s, into the Clark County Detention Center on robbery and traffic charges.

About 10:30 p.m. police got a call of a robbery at Town Pump Liquors, near Sahara Avenue and Jones Boulevard. Witnesses told officers that a suspect fled in a blue Chevrolet Celebrity, Lt. Ron Johnson said.

"A unit saw the car by University Medical Center, and when the unit started to turn around, the car ran a red light and disappeared," Johnson said.

So Metro went to the police equivalent of a zone defense -- a strategy they call flooding, or forming a bull's-eye. Units headed to major intersections in the area and waited.

Before too long, a K-9 unit spotted the Celebrity near Martin Luther King and Charleston boulevards.

"The K-9 unit flipped on its reds and blues and the car took off again north on MLK," Johnson said.

Because of the reckless nature of the fleeing driver, Metro's air unit was called in track the car one-on-one as it wound east on Bonneville Avenue before heading south on Civic Center Drive.

The chase ended when the suspect drove west on Charleston and hit a Jeep sport utility vehicle. The man fled the accident on foot. Kirk was caught by a K-9 unit.

"It turns out he had punched the clerk at the store in the face and grabbed a handful of money from the till," Johnson said.

Kirk suffered no injuries from the accident but did take a bite from K-9 dog Breston, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, police said.

The driver of the Jeep was taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries.

"The bull's-eye worked pretty well tonight," Johnson said. "It's something we are working on."