Officer’s actions were within use-of-force policy, board rules

Keith Paul

Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 | 10:28 a.m.

A Metro Police officer's actions when he rammed a stolen sport utility vehicle that had just run over a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper was within the department's deadly force policy, a police oversight board ruled Thursday night.

Metro's use-of-force board voted unanimously that Officer Tim Gross followed police guidelines when he rammed his police car into the stolen SUV and ended a high-speed chase of Vornelius Phillips on April 21 on U.S. 95, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Trooper Bobby Kintzel was seriously hurt and is still recovering from his injuries in a Las Vegas rehabilitation hospital. Kintzel was struck as he was laying a strip of spikes across the road in an attempt to stop the pursuit.

"The board found Officer Gross' actions were lawful and proper," Flynn said.

Phillips is accused of carjacking the SUV after ditching a stolen taxicab. The 45-minute chase went through Henderson, Boulder City and Las Vegas before Gross ended it by ramming the stolen truck. Neither Gross nor Phillips were injured in the wreck, police said.

Phillips appeared to be forcing another motorist off the road after hitting Kintzel and may have been attempting to carjack that motorist, police said.

Phillips has also been charged with murder in connection with a California woman found dead in a motel room. Her body was discovered after Phillips was taken into custody on the highway.

Metro's use-of-force board, composed of four citizens and three officers, reviews officers' actions when someone is killed or seriously hurt by an officer or whenever an officer shoots at a person.

The board has reviewed 12 cases this year and has cleared the officers in each instance. Last year the board ruled in several shootings that officers violated the department's guidelines for use of force, prompting Sheriff Jerry Keller to order all officers to take a training course.