Recent shootings prompt review of arrest procedures

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:45 a.m.

Police are reviewing procedures in the wake of incidents in which two people have been wounded and one killed as officers sought to arrest suspects inside vehicles.

The incidents have prompted police to conduct an administrative review to determine whether there is a safer way to apprehend suspects in vehicles.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Capt. Greg Jolley said the department is reviewing how officers reach inside to turn off the vehicle's engine and how they try to pull suspects through an open window or door while the vehicle's engine is running.

The news of the review comes amid criticism of police actions in the recent officer shooting of 16-year-old John Amie.

Amie, of Los Angeles, was shot in the shoulder during an attempted arrest while sitting in the driver's seat of a car in a convenience store parking lot.

Officers claim they saw Amie selling drugs from the vehicle. Officer Brian Glitch, 32, stuck his hand in the vehicle to grab the keys and turn off the engine, according to Jolley. When the officer had his torso and arms in the car, Amie tried to drive off and Glitch was stuck in the vehicle and dragged, police said.

Glitch fired one shot at Amie, puncturing his lung.

"Is that proper procedure?" Amie's mother, Mildred Ford asked. "The officer sticks himself half inside the car. Given the circumstances, isn't that escalating the situation? Who is putting who in danger?"

An internal review of Glitch's actions is being conducted, Jolley said.

A week before Amie was shot, another Metro officer, Jeffrey Vialard, 32, shot a narcotics suspect, 19-year-old Brandon Broyles, in a casino parking lot. Broyles suffered three bullet wounds.

On May 13, officer Gregory Ziel, 27, fatally shot Douglas Oswalt, 32, in the parking lot of a business center.

Metro trains officers extensively on how to conduct a vehicle stop, but does not give them specific guidelines when it comes to arresting a suspect inside a vehicle with its engine running.

Instead, they are simply informed that the scenario presents numerous dangers, including being dragged underneath the vehicle, according to Lt. Rick Alba of the department's training bureau.

"What we do tell officers is that the foremost thought in their minds should be their safety and the safety of the public," Alba said.

Administrators expect to examine whether there are certain crimes that do not warrant officers risking their lives by trying to arrest a suspect in a vehicle with the engine running.