Digital video to help nab Laughlin shooters

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

Metro Police department should be getting the computer hardware necessary this week to turn videotapes taken during a deadly biker confrontation into digital images.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael O'Callaghan said the equipment will enable police to preserve every frame of the relevant videos without degrading the quality.

Three California men were killed in April when members of the Hells Angels and Mongols outlaw biker gangs got into a confrontation at Harrah's during the annual Laughlin River Run.

Although one Arizona resident was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, the case against him was dismissed when prosecutors decided they needed time to preserve the videotapes.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Thompson said his office asked the county's executive steering committee for the $49,000 needed to purchase the high-tech equipment.

The committee was able to re-allocate the funds from the county's Center for Enterprise Information Technology, and the County Commission approved the purchase of the equipment last month, Thompson said.

"This whole case is hours and hours of videotape from various cameras," Thompson said.

Because the Hells Angels and Mongols who witnessed the incident aren't likely to testify, Thompson said prosecutors will likely rely on the testimony of intelligence officers and a few other witnesses who must pick suspects from the digital images.

It is unclear how long it will take to make the digital images, O'Callaghan said.