Car speeds through Hoover Dam checkpoints

Thursday, May 1, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

A 29-year-old Las Vegas man is in federal custody in Las Vegas today after a car ran through two security checkpoints at Hoover Dam, hit a police car and led officers on a 60-mile chase toward Kingman, Ariz., federal officials said.

The 1 a.m. incident today has caused Hoover Dam Police and the Bureau of Reclamation to rethink security measures on the dam, which has been on heightened alert since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

"We will be reviewing our measures and see how we can make adjustments," said Ken Yanni, chief of security for Hoover Dam. He said one measure could be to add a winding series of concrete barriers so that cars would have to weave through them before or after the checkpoints.

Federal and contracted private police have been trying to keep things safe at the dam while attempting to keep delays for passenger vehicles, tour buses, recreational vehicles and specially permitted commercial rigs to a minimum.

Delays currently are running about 10 minutes at the checkpoints. It was not known this morning how long additional security measures would delay travelers and visitors to the popular tourist attraction.

After he was arrested, the driver was taken to University Medical Center to be treated for a cut lip, and then he was to be booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

The charges were to include assaulting a police officer because authorities allege that the man struck a federal police car that was positioned to block his crossing the bridge.

More information about the man and his possible motive was not available this morning.

Yanni said because the man is alleged to have committed the felony on the Nevada side, he was brought back to Nevada for booking.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, that state's version of the Highway Patrol, assisted in the arrest, but a spokeswoman for that agency said today that the Hoover Dam Police was the arresting agency of record.

Yanni said the incident began when the man drove his car at about 45 mph through the checkpoint.

Checkpoint officers phoned ahead and an officer parked a car across the dam to encourage the driver to stop. The man got around that vehicle, then pulled over on the Arizona side, Yanni said.

When a dam police officer approached the car, it sped off, leading police on a medium-speed chase over the next 60 miles, Yanni said, noting that police were focusing on maintaining "visual range" of the vehicle.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter and patrol units joined the chase, Yanni said, noting that at one point spikes were dropped on the road and they blew out the car's tires. But the driver continued to drive on his rims.

Eventually, the car ran out of gas outside Kingman and the man sat in his vehicle for a while, Yanni said. A police officer then broke the driver's side window and the man was pepper sprayed and subdued, Yanni said.

The investigation was continuing and the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas planned to review the case to determine if there would be additional charges, Yanni said.