Officer who lost sight in eye happy with shooter’s sentence

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 9:57 a.m.

Darnell Harris, convicted in January of shooting a Metro Police officer in the face after a robbery, was sentenced Wednesday to a minimum of 47 years in prison.

"I'm pleased with the judgment and I'll leave it at that," said Detective Pete Rossi, who lost sight in one eye after the shooting. He was surrounded by a dozen uniformed officers as he spoke in a Clark County Courthouse hallway.

"Hopefully, he'll never see the light of day," Rossi said of Harris.

Harris, 22, was one of three men accused of robbing the Macayo Vegas restaurant on West Charleston Boulevard in June 2000. As they were leaving the restaurant, they ran into Rossi, then a patrol officer. Prosecutors said Harris opened fire, striking Rossi in the face.

Harris and Markus Weatherspoon then carjacked an employee of a nearby Olive Garden restaurant and later kicked her out of the car near Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road.

Harris, who was convicted on more than a dozen counts, had turned down a deal that would have guaranteed him a minimum of 37 years in prison -- the same sentence Weatherspoon is serving.

On Wednesday, Harris' attorney, Andrew Wentworth, told District Judge Donald Mosley that Harris should receive less time than Weatherspoon because Weatherspoon was the "ringleader."

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall argued Harris should receive more time because he shot Rossi.

The judge agreed with Wall.

Harris was the last defendant to be sentenced in the case. Getaway driver Tamika Beavers is serving four to 10 years, and Terrance Winn, the third robber, is serving 20 to 50 years.