Woman linked to robbers’ getaway

Keith Paul

Friday, June 23, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

Metro Police arrested a woman Thursday who is accused of renting a sport utility vehicle that was used as the getaway car in a robbery that led to a police officer being shot in the face.

Kimberly Landrum, 25, was booked into the Clark County jail on an embezzlement of a vehicle charge. She is accused of renting a 2000 Chevrolet Blazer from a rental car agency in April and never returning it, said. Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro's homicide unit.

That vehicle was the one three men were running toward after the Macayo Vegas restaurant, 4457 W. Charleston Blvd., was robbed just before 11 p.m. on June 14.

As the trio fled, one of the robbers fired shots at Officer Pete Rossi. One bullet hit Rossi, 26, in the chin and traveled up his face into his eye, blinding him.

The Blazer was abandoned by the robbers at the other end of the shopping center, still running and in gear, up against a curb, police said.

Landrum has not been charged in connection with the robbery or the shooting of Rossi, a three-year veteran Metro officer who was released from the hospital earlier this week.

Detective are still searching for two -- possibly three -- suspects in connection with the robbery and shooting.

"It is very likely there is a third (outstanding suspect) who was the driver of the getaway vehicle," Petersen said.

Less than 17 hours after Rossi was shot, 22-year-old Markus Weatherspoon was arrested at a duplex at 1297 N. N St. He is being held in the Clark County jail without bond in connection with the robbery and shooting.

"We're still looking into the relationship between Weatherspoon and Landrum and how Weatherspoon ended up with the vehicle," Petersen said.

Landrum told detectives she lent the Blazer to a person, who police determined was unrelated to the robbery. Police have said Landrum knew Weatherspoon.

Weatherspoon, described by Sheriff Jerry Keller last week as having "a very violent past," has previous arrests for domestic battery and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime. He is wanted in North Las Vegas and Los Angeles on drug-related charges.

Prosecutors are seeking to obtain a DNA sample from Weatherspoon. A motion seeking the DNA sample will be heard Tuesday in Justice Court.

Petersen said detectives collected physical evidence from the robbery and the getaway car that could be compared to a DNA sample, but be declined to specify what evidence.

Detectives continue to investigate if there is any connection between Weatherspoon and a former female employee of the Macayo Vegas.

The second suspect still being sought is described as a black male who is 18 to 20 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 135 pounds. He had his hair in two short pigtails about an inch long and tied with yellow rubber bands. He was wearing a loose-fitting black T-shirt and tan or gray pants with red underwear showing over the top of the pants.

The third suspect was only described as a black male who was wearing a dark cap and a rubber mask of a "Star Wars" character.