Officer cleared in other shootings

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

One of the Metro Police officers who shot a wanted Utah man after a car chase early Sunday has shot two other men in separate incidents -- both later ruled justified -- including one less than five months ago.

K-9 Officer Robert Johnson and Officer William Wilson each fired at 36-year-old Mark J. Simonich after he got out of his red pickup with a gun in his hand Sunday. The gun turned out to be a BB gun, but it was a replica of a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, police said.

Simonich, who was wanted on a felony warrant for parole violations, was listed in fair condition at University Medical Center this morning.

On Aug. 20 Johnson, 39, and Officer Christopher Catanese shot at and hit Devin Monfils in the arm after going to Industrial Road on a report of a man shooting at passing cars. Monfils had fired at Catanese's approaching police car, hitting the windshield, before the two officers returned fire.

Monfils admitted during his trial that he fired at the passing cars and the officers. But he said he didn't want to hurt anyone, only to provoke the officers to kill him. Monfils testified he wanted to die and decided to try to force police to kill him.

A District Court jury convicted the 26-year-old Monfils on Jan. 7 of assault with a deadly weapon and firing a weapon into a vehicle.

In November 1996 Johnson shot Alan Muentes, then 18, in the chest after the teenager put a gun to another officer's head and pulled the trigger twice, police said. The gun didn't fire.

Officer Steve Mauri was struggling with Muentes inside the Blue Diamond Truck Stop near Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15 after a man reported Muentes shot out his car windows from a moving pickup, police said.

Muentes was convicted in October 1997 of resisting a public officer, illegal discharge of a firearm into a vehicle and battery with the use of a deadly weapon, but a jury deadlocked on the more serious charge of attempted murder.

In both of the previous shootings, a Metro Police review board determined Johnson followed department standards when he fired. Both Johnson and Wilson are on routine administrative leave while Sunday's shooting is investigated.

In the shootings last year and Sunday, Johnson was responding as a member of the canine unit, a squad that is often called to high-speed chases and suspect searches, said Andy Anderson, executive director of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association.

"Any time you call out the dog guys, you're chasing down suspects," he said. "The dog guys are called out to high-profile situations, and I expect they would get involved in more situations that could turn into shootings than a regular street officer."

But, Anderson added, no officer wants to have to shoot someone.

"The guy (Johnson) has just had bad luck. It's bad luck anytime you have to shoot," he said. "You have to remember (police involved) shootings happen in seconds."

Sunday's shooting occurred after a chase through Las Vegas. Officers tried to pull over a pickup that was driving in the area of Washington Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard without the headlights on, police said.

The truck led police down Rancho Drive to Ann Road and eventually to southbound U.S. 95, but police put tire spikes on the highway near Cheyenne Avenue. The spikes flattened the tires, forcing the driver to stop.

Simonich got out of the car with a gun in his hand, and Johnson, a seven-year veteran, and Wilson, 29, a two-year veteran, fired hitting Simonich several times, police said.

It wasn't until after an officer picked up the gun that police saw that it was a BB gun, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

"Even when the gun was on the ground, we all thought it was a .45 (caliber) semi-automatic. That's how real it looked," he said.

"You react quickly when someone comes out flashing a gun," Anderson said. "He pulls it out and it looks like a real gun. He's presenting a threat and at the time you feel it's a real gun."

Sunday's shooting was the fourth shooting involving a Metro officer in the past two months and the second one this year.