Metro pays $35,000 to county firefighter to settle false arrest suit

Keith Paul

Tuesday, May 22, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

Metro Police's fiscal oversight board on Monday approved a $35,000 payment to a Clark County firefighter to settle a lawsuit alleging false arrest and more than $80,000 to settle two other cases.

Trina Jiles, a firefighter/paramedic, was arrested in late 1998. She was accused of burglary and conversion of leased property. She was booked into the Clark County jail and later released on bond. She was placed on paid leave from the fire department for several weeks.

The charges were dropped weeks later during a preliminary hearing, when police and prosecutors could offer no evidence linking her to the crime of renting a generator and not returning it, her attorney said.

"The man involved said it wasn't Trina, and she was at work when it happened," said Frank Cremen, Jiles' attorney. "She was allowed to continue her training she had started, but she was suspended with pay" from the fire department until the case was dropped, he said.

Metro's fiscal affairs committee approved the settlement during its monthly meeting on Monday without comment. The committee, composed of two Las Vegas City Council members, two Clark County Commission members and a resident, also approved a $50,000 settlement to Christopher Warpness for an accident that involved a Metro officer and $34,000 to Corey Newman, who also filed a lawsuit alleging false arrest and excessive force.

In the two false arrest cases, Metro made no admissions of fault but settled the cases rather than continue to litigate the lawsuits.

A trial normally costs about $100,000. Several hundred-thousand dollars in additional costs are needed to prepare for trial, said Lois Willis, Metro's comptroller.

Warpness claims he was injured in an auto accident when an officer lost control of a police car that collided with Warpness' vehicle while heading to a call. Warpness was partially ejected and suffered injuries to his head, abdomen and pelvis. He incurred more than $18,000 in medical expenses, police said.

Newman was arrested in May 1998 for obstruction and resisting arrest and then booked into the jail, where he was held for 36 hours.