NHP car is stolen; six damaged during chase

Eric Leake

Monday, Feb. 14, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

A man stole a Nevada Highway Patrol car and led troopers on a chase that damaged another six patrol cars before a suspect was arrested Friday evening, the Highway Patrol said.

Trooper Loy Hixson, a Highway Patrol spokesman, said a trooper stopped about 9:15 p.m. on Interstate 15 southbound near Spring Mountain Road to help a driver who said he was out of gas.

"The trooper stated the subject all of the sudden started making comments that led the trooper to believe he had a gun," Hixson said.

He said the trooper took cover behind a barrier and called for backup while the stranded driver, whose identity Hixson did not have Sunday evening, got out of his car and yelled somewhat incomprehensibly into his cell phone and at the trooper.

"The guy kept telling the trooper, 'You know what I'm talking about. You got the call,' " Hixson said.

The stranded driver then walked into traffic and before the trooper could respond hopped into the empty patrol car and sped away south on I-15, Hixson said.

"Everything happened too quick," Hixson said. "The trooper is thinking about himself, he's thinking about the subject there, and he is thinking about any other traffic going by."

Troopers en route chased the driver south on 1-15 at speeds up to 100 mph, Hixson said. The driver exited at Blue Diamond Road, turned into the Silverton hotel parking lot, and immediately turned out of the parking lot, sideswiping an oncoming patrol car on the driver's side.

Hixson said the chase continued on Blue Diamond Road back toward the interstate overpass where the driver crashed head-on into a second patrol car, hit a third, and stopped. Troopers tried to remove the driver.

"He was kind of anchoring himself inside the car and grabbing things so that they could not get him out," Hixson said. "He took off again."

The chase resumed with the driver eventually turning on Las Vegas Boulevard, driving north in the southbound lanes. He hit a fourth patrol car, lost a front tire, and finally ran off the road into the desert, Hixson said.

All the troopers were then able to get the driver out of the damaged car and arrest him, Hixson said. At least one more patrol car was damaged when it skidded in the mud and into the disabled car.

Three troopers and the driver suffered minor injuries during the chase and were treated at University Medical Center. A total of seven Highway Patrol vehicles, including the stolen one, were damaged during the chase, which lasted roughly 15 minutes, Hixson said.

He said troopers were trying to keep the driver within view, but that his erratic movements were hard to anticipate and contributed to the multiple collisions.

Hixson said the Highway Patrol was most grateful that no civilians were hurt and that injuries to troopers were not more severe.

"We can buy new cars, but we can't buy new bodies," he said.

Hixson said the suspect is a resident of New Mexico and in his late 20s or early 30s. It was not known why he stole the car and has not been determined whether or not he actually had a gun.

"Because of the comments he made to the trooper, he may have had some mental or emotional problems, but we can't be sure," Hixson said, adding that prescription medications were found in the man's car.

The man faces charges including taking a police vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon for intentionally ramming the patrol cars, Hixson said.