Man killed by police had a record

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002 | 10:59 a.m.

Metro Police said Monday that the man killed by three veteran SWAT team members last week was a 24-year-old convicted car burglar, but this morning a spokesman for the department said he could find no such conviction or any other felony convictions on the man's record.

Metro Capt. Dennis Cobb on Monday identified the dead man as Saul Morales Garcia and said he had been convicted of auto burglary in 1997.

But the Clark County coroner's office this morning said the man's real name was Javier Duarte Chavez, 24. And Officer Jose Montoya, a Metro spokesman, checked the name against a law enforcement database and it only turned up traffic citations in North Las Vegas.

Metro police did not explain their discrepancies regarding the dead man's name and criminal history.

Chavez served jail time earlier this year for driving without proof of insurance, driving without a license, speeding in a school zone, North Las Vegas Police Officer Mark Martin said. The offenses occurred Feb. 28.

Chavez had been stopped previously for the same offenses, Martin said, and he had a court receipt for driving without a license or insurance when he was stopped the second time.

On Dec. 12, a man identified this week as Chavez was allegedly driving a sports utility vehicle that didn't have a rear license plate when Officer Enrique Hernandez attempted to pull him over near 27th Street and Stewart Avenue.

The driver didn't stop, and Hernandez gave chase. The SUV hit a light pole near 28th Street and Marlin, police said.

The SUV driver jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a nearby apartment with Hernandez in pursuit, Cobb said. Inside the apartment, Hernandez exchanged fire and was shot six times.

"It is believed the suspect was also hit by gunfire," Cobb said. "As the wounded officer was being attended to by paramedics, the suspect fled westbound through an alley, hiding in a vacant apartment in the 2600 block of Marlin. SWAT officers, responding to the officer's call for help, began searching the area for the suspect."

The officers found Chavez hiding in an air conditioning duct at the apartment building, police said. When they confronted him, police allege, he leveled a gun at them and the three officers fired multiple shots at him.