Thursday, July 18, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.
Prosecutors approved felony drug charges Wednesday against a former Metro Police officer after unlabeled prescription drugs and steroids were found in his Henderson home during a search by federal agents in April.
Agents from the Las Vegas office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are also investigating James Rexroad, who quit the department last month after less than a year, police sources told the Sun.
When ATF agents searched Rexroad's house on April 23 for "evidence relating to criminal activity involving firearms, ammunition and firearms related items," 15 bottles of pills were found along with a bottle of steroids, according to a Henderson Police affidavit for a warrant.
ATF Resident Agent in Charge Keith Heinzerling and U.S. Attorney's Office officials would not comment about any possible investigation of Rexroad or why his house was searched.
Henderson Police detectives were at Rexroad's home at the time of the ATF search and once the bottles of pills and suspected steroids were found, detectives got another search warrant related to the drugs, Henderson Police Lt. Hector Mancillas said.
Rexroad could not be reached for comment. However, when Henderson detectives asked Rexroad about the unlabeled medications, he told them the pills were left over from a stockpile he gathered for the Jan. 1, 2000, "millennium scare."
"He felt that the end of the world was at hand and wanted to be prepared for the worst if there were medical problem that either he or his wife experienced," the affidavit stated. Several of the bottles of pills found were antibiotics.
Two counts of possession of a controlled substance -- felonies -- and five counts of possession of dangerous drugs -- gross misdemeanors -- were approved by the Clark County District Attorney's office, said Ron Bloxham, a chief deputy district attorney.
The warrants were forwarded to a judge and the paperwork is expected to be completed next week, Mancillas said.
"A lot of times in these types of cases we will give a suspect's attorney a call when the warrant comes in and allow them to bring them down (to the police station) and book (the suspect)," he said.
Mancillas said Rexroad was not suspected of selling the prescription drugs or steroids.
Rexroad was a rookie Metro officer at the time of the search of his house. He was hired in August 2001 and went through the police academy and then was in field training. He was still a probationary officer at the time.
Police put Rexroad on paid leave when the suspected steroids and pills were found in his house, Undersheriff Richard Winget said.
An internal investigation was started, but Rexroad quit the department on June 25 before any possible disciplinary action was taken, Winget said.
"There weren't any issues documented when he was hired," Winget said. "We spend a lot of time and money to do background investigations and drug tests to ensure the people we hire are the best available to do the job of a police officer.
"If crimes are committed (by officers), they are prosecuted. If they commit misconduct they are dealt with and disciplined."
Rexroad becomes the fourth Metro officer accused of crimes and the second accused of possessing steroids since February.
Officer Sean P. Curd, a training officer at the police academy, was charged on Feb. 28 with drug possession and being under the influence of drugs after cocaine, steroids and Ketamine -- an animal sedative dubbed a club drug in recent years -- were found in his Henderson home, according to a police report.
Curd, who has a trial scheduled in November, was fired in May.
In the weeks before Curd was arrested, two other Metro officers were arrested.
Detective Jack Brandon was arrested Feb. 22, accused of robbing two slot machine route workers in a Henderson bar and using his unmarked police car to make his getaway. Brandon, who has a trial scheduled for August, faces a department hearing on the recommendation he be fired.
Officer Jason Woodard was charged Feb. 12 on allegations he sexually abused a now 18-year-old woman several times, starting when she was 13 until she was 16. Woodard, who is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, has a preliminary hearing scheduled in Henderson Justice Court in September.
Metro will start randomly drug testing its officers this year after negotiating the testing during the last contract with the Police Protective Association -- union for the rank and file police and corrections officers. A new contract for supervisors is currently being negotiated and drug testing is expected to be part of the new pact, Winget said.
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