Tourist hails what he thinks is a cab, and ride is straight downhill

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

The details are hazy, but what matters is plain: Mickey Tye Kelley thought he was hailing a cab.

With one simple wave of a hand, Kelley set into motion a series of events Aug. 20 that included a vicious attack, a Metro Police internal affairs investigation and the easy getaway of two criminals, emboldened , perhaps, by their success.

It started hours earlier with a blur of poker rooms and nightclubs and, naturally, beer. Kelley, in town from Texas to celebrate his 26th birthday, was slinking along some off-Strip street at almost 7 a.m. when he decided to catch a cab.

Less than an hour later, he was bloody and broken out in the desert.

Nevada Taxicab Authority Chief Investigator Joe Dahlia has never, in his 18 years on the job, heard of people posing as cabdrivers to ensnare victims in a kidnapping-cum-robbery scheme. Neither has Metro Police spokesman Jose Montoya.

Well, not until now.

Kelley realized something was wrong with his ride when the cabdriver (who had a male passenger in the front seat, for reasons quickly revealed) commandeered the white sport utility vehicle in the direction opposite from what he had requested.

Wrong seemed only wronger when the driver reportedly told Kelley he had two choices - give over his valuables or die.

Then the passenger crawled into the back seat and began beating Kelley: face, eyes, head.

By the time it was done, they had driven into the desert, claimed Kelley's cash, his iPhone and his Rolex, a college graduation present from his father. Then they dumped him and drove away.

Too bloody to thumb a ride from anyone reasonable, Kelley limped toward casinos on the horizon. He made it back to Bally's by mid-morning.

From the hotel, Kelley called his mother a few rooms down and then called Metro. The woman who took the call said someone would come out to take the report.

The family says they waited for four hours and then tried again. This time, Kelley's mother, Kathy Fetters, got on the phone. The person on the other end reportedly told her Metro Police respond only to "crimes in action or crimes in progress." She was then told to wait for someone to contact her. They left for Texas that evening, having heard nothing.

Back at home, Fetters launched an angry letter writing campaign - to the media, politicians and law enforcement officials - demanding a response to her son's attack. On the phone she got Montoya , who put her in touch with internal affairs Lt. Cindy Gifford. An investigation was launched as a result of Fetters' complaints.

Fetters says that Gifford acknowledged mistakes had been made and that her exchange with Metro call-takers would be used in training exercises as an example of what not to do.

Gifford would confirm for the Sun only that there was a formal investigation into the incident. She would not comment on its outcome.

Police must prioritize crimes, Montoya said. Dispatching an officer to take a report on an event that happened hours before is always going to be trumped by more immediate, more pressing crimes. Several hours might pass before urgent incoming calls slack en enough for an officer to take a report, he said.

Now Kelley is no longer interested in talking about the night, either out of embarrassment or an effort to move on, or some combination of the two.

Meanwhile, his mother burns at the thought that whoever did it is still out there, waiting maybe.