Henderson cop charged with DUI, hit-and-run

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

A Henderson Police sergeant is on paid leave for allegedly leaving the scene of a crash while drunk and threatening the Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who arrested him.

Henderson police officials are conducting an internal investigation in connection with the Nov. 3 arrest of Sgt. Danny Medina, 39, on charges of DUI, hit and run and intimidating a law enforcement officer.

Medina was off duty when he allegedly drove his 1998 Toyota pickup truck into the rear of a 1982 BMW stopped at a red light on Sahara Avenue at Highland Drive, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol crash report. Neither Medina nor the 16-year-old driver of the BMW were injured.

The trooper dispatched to investigate the crash asked Medina if he had been drinking and he said no. Medina told the trooper he didn't have any identification with him and that he was a sergeant with Henderson Police.

When the trooper asked Medina if he'd take a field sobriety test, Medina cursed at him, the report says.

Medina told the trooper: "If you come to Henderson I'll kick your ass," according to the report.

When the trooper told Medina to be quiet, Medina allegedly said, "Are you going to spank me?"

While the trooper notified a supervisor of the situation, the report says Medina got back into his car and attempted to drive away.

The trooper told Medina to stop, but Medina allegedly again cursed at the trooper and said, "I'm out of here."

He didn't get far. The trooper pulled him over on Highland Drive and took him into custody without incident a short time later.

After initially refusing to take a breath test, Medina consented to the test at Las Vegas City Jail and blew a 0.180 and 0.193, more than twice the legal limit, which is 0.08.

Officer Shane Lewis, spokesman for the Henderson Police Department, declined to comment on the Medina's arrest.

Likewise, Trooper Angie Wolff, spokeswoman for the highway patrol, said it's the patrol's policy not to give further information on arrests because it has the potential to affect the prosecution of cases. The policy applies to all arrests, not just those involving police officers, she said.

This is the second time in the past two months that a local police officer has been arrested for DUI. In September, Metro officer Ryan McCulloch, 25, was arrested by a Henderson police officer for his third DUI offense in 18 months.

McCulloch was not arrested for his first offense in April 2002 but was arrested and jailed for the next two offenses.

On Dec. 10, McCulloch will face a three-member pre-termination board, which includes a captain, deputy captain and a civilian. After the board decides what punishment McCulloch should face, Sheriff Bill Young will have three days to make the department's final ruling. McCulloch, like any officer who is disciplined, will be able to appeal Young's decision to an internal department panel, the 2 1/2-year-old Labor Management Board, which has the final word.

Of late Young has complained about not having the final say on police discipline because the panel recently reversed his suspension of David Devaney, a Metro jail guard who had forged his dead girlfriend's signature on her final paychecks and deposited the money into his bank account.

Whatever happens with the police departments' pending disciplinary decisions regarding McCulloch and Medina, it's not likely to affect how his case is handled in the courts, however. Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, who is in charge of the vehicular crimes unit, said lawyers must obey the law, and "it applies with equal vigor to police."

While his unit is not prosecuting Medina's or McCulloch's cases -- they are misdemeanors and he handles felony DUI cases -- it did prosecute Ronald Mortensen, a Metro cop who killed an alleged gang member in 1996 in a drive-by shooting.

"We treat everybody the same," Booker said. "A lawbreaker is a lawbreaker."

"There will be people who make mistakes," he added, pointing out that police officers "should be held at a slightly higher level of scrutiny."

When it comes to police officers, he said, "good judgment is something we are paying for. Driving DUI is at least an absence of judgment."