Jeff German pays tribute to Metro’s Henry Prendes and to all cops who are expected to put their lives on the line

By Jeff German (contact)

Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006 | 12:34 p.m.

Metro Sgt. Henry Prendes was in high spirits the last time Officer Paul Gambini saw him at the Southwest Area Command Center on Wednesday afternoon.

It was about 1:10 p.m. and the two good friends, who hadn't run into each other in several months, were catching up in Prendes' office when the talkative sergeant got a call of a domestic disturbance.

They said their goodbyes in the parking lot as Prendes, whom Gambini described as a "ball of energy," rushed to his car and headed off to the scene of the neighborhood call near Durango and Russell roads.

Minutes later, the 37-year-old Prendes, a 14-year police veteran with a reputation for being fearless and street smart, was dead - ambushed by a deranged budding rap artist firing an assault rifle as the sergeant courageously entered the killer's home to investigate the domestic fight.

Police sources tell me that Prendes, who apparently was not wearing a bullet-proof vest, was first shot in the chest by the killer, 22-year-old Amir Crump.

Then, after the wounded Prendes retreated out the doorway and fell down, the sources say, Crump stood over the helpless officer and reportedly shot him execution style in the head.

Crump, who went by the nickname "Trajik," was later killed in a fierce gunfight with officers, who had been pinned down and unable to come to their fallen colleague's aid. A second cop was also shot, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The tragedy left behind traumatized officers, a bullet-riddled neighborhood and a community mourning the loss of one of the police department's finest.

"When something like this happens, it makes you realize the threats we face every day," says Gambini, who learned how to be a cop from Prendes during a stint on the sergeant's squad from 1999 to 2001.

"The first thing I thought of was the thousands of times I've walked up to a doorway in a domestic call. You never know what's going to be behind that door."

Fred Castle, who was among the dozens of Southwest Area Command officers at the scene of the shooting, described the death of Prendes as a sad reality check for everyone.

"Many of us out there were calling our families and loved ones letting them know that we were OK," Castle says. "Something like this is unbelievably hard on our families."

The loss was particularly tough on the department because Prendes was such an outgoing and upbeat leader, who was known to be totally loyal to the officers under his command.

In his spare time, Prendes enjoyed golfing and playing basketball with his old Las Vegas High School buddies, but most of all he loved going to movies and spending time with his 13-year-old and 15-year-old daughters.

"Everybody liked Henry," says his captain, Mark Tavarez, who trained him at the police academy 15 years ago. "He was one of those guys that, when he came into a room, he made everybody smile.

"All he ever wanted to do was be a police officer."

As heartbreaking as his death is, his friends and fellow officers on the force have not had the luxury of focusing solely on their grief while they prepare for his funeral on Tuesday.

They have had to continue working to keep the peace around the valley.

There were more domestic disturbance calls to answer, more crimes to investigate and more citizens in need of help.

"I'm very proud of the men and women of Metro because they have not missed a beat," says Sheriff Bill Young, who once supervised Prendes during the sheriff's days on the vice squad. "Even with their grief, they continue to do their jobs and protect this community that we all love."

Castle says he intends to learn from this awful experience and make himself a better cop.

And he knows exactly how to keep alive the memory of Prendes.

"I'm not going to let the guy who took the life of Sgt. Prendes win," he says. "I'm going to go out there and do the same thing I've always done.

"I know Sgt. Prendes would want that."

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at 259-4067 or german@lasvegassun.com.

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