Police detective suspected in robbery

Keith Paul

Monday, Feb. 25, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

A Metro Police detective charged Friday with a Henderson robbery was already under police surveillance and allegedly used his unmarked car for his getaway, police records show.

Henderson Police arrested and charged Metro Police property crimes Detective Jack Brandon with burglary and robbery. He is accused of pepper-spraying two United Coin employees inside Rae's Restaurant and Lounge Friday morning and making off with an undisclosed amount of cash in his Metro-issued green Pontiac Grand Prix, according to a Henderson arrest report.

Metro intelligence detectives had been investigating Brandon for the last six weeks "after being notified by his bank that there has been a large amount of cash transactions -- over $500,000 -- in the last 12 months," according to the police report.

As a result of that investigation, Metro detectives put a Global Positioning Satellite tracking device on Brandon's unmarked police car.

Metro detectives will check their robbery cases to see if others match the method used in the Henderson robbery Friday.

"We are currently reviewing crimes in the past to see if any of the cases have similar circumstances," Sheriff Jerry Keller said. "We want to see if there are any others that might be related. We don't know if there are; that's why we are looking."

Brandon has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the internal investigation. Keller, who called the incident "demoralizing," said the internal investigation likely will be completed before the criminal charges are resolved.

Brandon has been disciplined three times -- written reprimands for on-duty traffic accidents. Keller said three accidents in a 14-year career is not unreasonable.

Henderson Police connected Brandon to the crime through his Metro car.

After the robbery at the restaurant on Wigwam Parkway near Pecos Road, a bar employee chased after the suspect, who was described as wearing a hat, sunglasses and bandages over half his face. The employee got the license plate of the getaway car, according to the report, and the car was registered to Metro.

Henderson detectives were told that the car was assigned to Brandon, an officer with Metro since September 1987 and a property crime detective the past 11 years.

According to the arrest report, photos taken from Rae's security camera were shown to members of Metro's robbery unit and investigators were told the photos "appeared to be Jack Brandon."

Police records of the GPS tracking device found that Brandon's car was parked across the street from Rae's before the robbery and was parked on Pecos Road near the restaurant at the time of the robbery.

Henderson Police arrested Brandon Friday afternoon and charged him with one count of robbery and one count of burglary. He was booked into the Henderson jail Friday. Brandon, 40, was released Saturday afternoon after posting $15,000 bail. He could not be reached for comment this morning.

After his arrest, Brandon told Henderson detectives he went to a Starbucks on Green Valley Parkway and sat in the patio without buying coffee and read the paper Friday morning. He said he then went to a convenience store about 9 a.m., but realized he was going to be late for a training class and left without going into the store, according to the report.

Brandon currently faces no charges as a result of the ongoing Metro Police investigation, said Capt. Dan Barry, commander of the organized crime unit.

Barry said that investigation will continue.