Man indicted on murder charges in bar shoot-out

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 16, 2000 | 10:27 a.m.

A Clark County grand jury has issued an indictment in a December sports bar shoot-out that killed one man and wounded seven others.

In a somewhat unusual twist, one of the charges brought against Manuel Tarango Jr., 19, accuses him of second-degree murder in the death of Emilio Rodriguez, who was actually shot by an off-duty Metro Police officer in self-defense.

Tarango, who is believed to be in Mexico, also faces charges of burglary, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, battery and attempted murder. The indictment alleges all of the crimes were committed with the use of a deadly weapon.

According to police, Rodriguez and two masked accomplices rushed into Mr. D's Sports Bar, 1810 S. Rainbow Blvd., early on the morning of Dec. 5 with their guns drawn.

One of the gunmen tried to jump over the bar, but three or four patrons were able to pull him to the ground and hold him.

A third gunman was caught on videotape firing shots into the air, into the crowd and at the patrons holding the other robber on the floor.

Dennis Devitte, one of seven off-duty officers in the bar that night, engaged in a gun battle with Rodriguez, who ended up dying on the sidewalk outside the bar.

Devitte, who was cleared of wrongdoing at a coroner's inquest, was struck seven times by Rodriguez's bullets and once by a Tarango bullet during the battle, said Chief Deputy District Attorney C. Dan Bowman. Six others were hit by the gunmen's bullets as well.

The entire incident lasted 19 seconds.

Tarango has been charged with the attempted murder of Devitte, a 20-year law enforcement officer, and three counts of battery for the wounding of Dale Joseph Harwood, Pat Ray Richardson and Robert Alsip.

Bowman said that the day after the shooting a woman who left the bar before the incident told police she saw a man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket loitering outside the back door of the bar the night before. After police identified Tarango as a close friend of Rodriguez, they asked the woman to participate in a photo lineup. Police said she identified Tarango as the man outside the bar that night.

Search warrants were obtained and DNA samples were taken from Tarango's parents. The DNA matched evidence found at the scene, Bowman said. Bowman said the third gunman has not yet been identified, but he said the police are working various leads.

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Koot said his office is trying something different with this case.

Defendants have been convicted of first-degree murder in cases in which someone has died during the commission of a crime even though they may not have been actively involved in the death itself. However, those cases have been overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court.

In this case, Tarango has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Rodriguez's death, which means jurors don't have to find that the act was premeditated.

While other cases have been charged similarly, Koot said the Nevada Supreme Court has not yet reviewed them.