Man in shootout had kept low profile

Keith Paul

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

The seven-time convicted felon who drew more than 100 shots from 14 Metro Police officers during a gunfight last week had drawn little attention from detectives until a few weeks ago.

Harry Kondiles, 37, spent the first eight months of this year in and out of the Clark County jail on various charges, which ranged from drug trafficking to reckless driving.

The types of crimes at first kept him under the radar of Repeat Offenders Program detectives, who track down convicted felons who again begin committing crimes.

"Criminals often have dealings with other criminals and keep a low profile," Capt. Dennis Cobb said. "He wasn't like an ATM robber, where he robs a couple of people and we are searching for him."

Instead, Kondiles, who was shot 22 times during Thursday night's gunfight and remained in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning, was accused of non-violent crimes and petty offenses. Police say he dealt with other criminals, who are not likely to call the police when wronged.

Kondiles began to collect arrest warrants. When he was accused of shooting a man in the ear, the ROP detectives began hunting him, said Lt. Jim Moses, commander of the ROP unit.

Kondiles apparently knew the police were looking for him, Moses said. For weeks he slipped ROP detectives, moving often and staying with a girlfriend and a friend.

ROP detectives defined Kondiles, convicted in Illinois and California on seven felonies, as a career criminal.

He was most recently released from a California prison in October 1997. Between September 1991 and August 1995 he was paroled four times -- each time he returned to prison after committing some type of violation, California Department of Corrections records show.

Kondiles for a time remained under Metro's radar, but police did know one important fact about him.

"We knew that he would always run when he was being arrested," Moses said. "Even if blocked in, he would try to run."

The ROP detectives found that to be true when they tracked him to a home near Buffalo Drive and Craig Road about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

ROP detectives maneuvered their cars to block him. Kondiles, police said, fired shots at the officers and rammed the unmarked police cars in an attempt to escape. Three ROP detectives returned fire.

Other detectives and patrol officers started chasing Kondiles as he drove around northwest streets. Police said Kondiles shot at pursuing patrol officers during the 20-minute high-speed chase before he crashed into a wall.

But as the officers approached the car, police said, Kondiles fired additional shots. The 11 officers fired at the car, hitting Kondiles 22 times, mostly in his arms and legs.

The 14 Metro officers who fired at Kondiles are on paid administrative leave.

They are: patrol Officers Eric Barros, Christopher O'Brien, Gregory Watkins, Paul McCullough, William Pollock, Jason Jennings, Jason Hansen and Ryan Buff, traffic Officer Tony McCleery, general assignment Detective Todd Richter, robbery Detective Joseph Herring and ROP detectives Brian Debecker, Richard Lanave and Sgt. Clint Robison.