Man who led police on chase through airport pleads guilty

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.

The man who led police on a 19-minute, high-speed chase across the runways and taxi-ways at McCarran International Airport in March -- shutting down part of the airport and coming close to ramming a loaded Boeing 737 -- has pleaded guilty to two criminal charges.

Jonathan Brough III followed through Tuesday with a plea bargain he had agreed to last week in Justice Court. He will be sentenced Nov. 2 by District Judge Jeff Sobel.

He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of failing to stop on the signal of a police officer and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

A blood test after his unwilling apprehension by police showed he had a high level of methamphetamine in his system, according to Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker.

The prosecutor said that chase, which reached speeds of 70 mph, ended when police forced his car into a culvert as it headed for the nose gear of the jetliner. Had that not been successful, officers were preparing to shoot the recalcitrant driver.

But even after the 42-year-old Las Vegas man's car was disabled, the incident wasn't concluded, Booker said.

The original charges against Brough allege it took several officers to subdue him.

Brough had forced his way through a construction gate and past a guard who called Metro Police for assistance. Six or seven vehicles pursued the defendant around the airport grounds near the C and D terminals.