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Community mourns police officer killed in crash
Funeral this morning for Officer James Manor, who died in collision earlier this month
Justin M. Bowen
Members of the Metro Police Honor Guard escort the casket of Officer James Manor from Palm Mortuary to his Friday morning funeral at the International Church of Las Vegas. Manor was killed shortly after 1 a.m. May 7 while en route to a domestic violence call.
Published Friday, May 15, 2009 | 9:59 a.m.
Updated Friday, May 15, 2009 | 6:17 p.m.
Services for Officer James Manor
The exchanging of the Honor Guard posted by Officer James Manor. Family members, friends and fellow officers showed their respects at a viewing Thursday. Video is courtesy of Metro Police.
Officer James Manor
Sun archives
- Traffic delays likely for Metro officer’s funeral (5-15-2009)
- Funeral services planned for officer killed in crash (5-11-2009)
- Accused driver’s attorney in fatal police crash speaks out (5-11-2009)
- Driver in fatal crash with officer wasn’t drunk, to be released (5-8-09)
- Metro officer killed in collision remembered as ‘caring individual’ (5-8-09)
- Metro Police officer killed on duty in collision identified (5-7-2009)
- Driver who went through police crash site arrested for DUI (5-7-2009)
Hundreds of uniformed police officers stood in formation at Palm Mortuary and Cemetery, 6701 N. Jones Blvd., when the sound of helicopters filled the air Friday afternoon.
By then, Sheriff Douglas Gillespie had presented an American flag to officer James Manor's mother and 8-year-old daughter. State troopers had presented a Nevada flag. Bagpipers had played "Amazing Grace."
The five Metro helicopters appeared from the distance and flew over the cemetery. One peeled away in the missing man formation.
Then police radios throughout the cemetery crackled: "All units stand by for a broadcast."
"Attention all officers," came the voice of the dispatcher. "Officer James L. Manor, badge number 10027, may he rest in peace. Secure. Final."
Manor, who was killed May 7 in a car crash en route to a domestic violence call, was laid to rest today amid a sea of uniformed police officers, family and friends at the International Church of Las Vegas.
Police said Manor was driving his squad car east on Flamingo Road when Calvin Darling, 35, turned his red pickup in front of Manor at Ravenwood Drive.
Darling has been charged with driving under the influence, though he was released from the Clark County Detention Center on his own recognizance after blood tests came back under the legal limit for alcohol.
The church was filled to capacity Friday morning with thousands of people paying final respects to Manor, 28, a former star athlete at Clark High School who was 13 days shy of his second anniversary on the Metro Police force.
Mourners who couldn't find seats were directed to an overflow chapel, where the service was being shown on screens. The choir from Manor's church, New Antioch Christian Fellowship, performed after opening remarks from his pastor, Rev. Naida Parson. Wayne Tanaka, the principal at Clark when Manor was a student, and County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly also offered remarks.
Gillespie told the crowd a eulogy for a fallen officer was the one speech he hoped he would never have to make.
"There's been a lot of talk about Officer Manor being a hero because he lost his life responding to a 911 call," Gillespie said. "Officer Manor was a hero long before that."
Gillespie called Manor an "impact player" who "wore the uniform proudly."
"Other officers were proud to work with him," he said.
He told Manor's family, "Please know that Metro and the community recognize the tremendous sacrifice your family has made. This was a senseless yet honorable death to end a short but honorable life.
"He was a cop's cop. He was our brother."
Officer James Villareal, who worked with Manor, called the 6-foot-5 officer a "gentle giant."
"He would rather use his wit and knowledge to resolve an issue than his size," Villareal said. "I always knew when I arrived on a call with James that the situation would be under control with a cooperative subject. Who in his right mind would mess with James?"
Fellow officer James Wirey, who worked the graveyard shift with Manor, said he and Manor would joke about his size.
"Some were intimidated by him, but not me," he said to laughter. "I thought if I ever get into a fight, I hope he's there to help me out. He was. He was always there."
Manor's most memorable trait, Wirey said, was his laughter.
"He was one to dish it out and took what we gave with a big grin on his face," he said.
But today was not a day for such laughter, he said.
"As officers, we often hold in our emotions, staying strong for those we love," he said. "Not today."
Officer Stuart Bowman, who described Manor as his best friend, followed Wirey to the lectern and broke into tears before he could say a word. A dozen of his squad mates came to the stage and embraced him before he spoke.
"I want to thank the family, teachers, mentors, friends, anyone who helped to mold him and make him the person he came to be," Bowman said. "I never met a person the same age as myself who I so wanted to be like.
"He was my best friend, and I thank God I had the privilege to tell him that before he left me."
Parson told the packed church that the service, which began a half-hour late to allow everyone to be seated, would be a celebration and a bit of a cultural experience for many. The two-hour service included hand-clapping music typical of Manor's African-American church and a montage of Manor's life.
Manor's brother Jermond was joined on the stage by his siblings as he talked about the upbringing they had on Weaver Drive in West Las Vegas.
"The statement I've heard time and again is that nothing good comes out of low-income housing. Look here," Jermond Manor said, pointing to his siblings. "This came out of low-income housing.
"Where you come from does not dictate where you are going."
The elder brother recalled how their father, Willie Manor, would wake them up at 3 a.m. and take them to Jackson Street to see a teenager strung out on drugs as a way of showing them the lifestyle he did not want them to follow.
After he finished his remarks, their mother, Linda Manor-Wright, called out each by number as they sat down. When she got to No. 9, which was James Manor's place in the order, she paused and the crowd applauded.
Childhood friend Jireh Green said it was a little ironic that Manor became a police officer, "because as memory serves me, he was not always the most behaved student in middle school."
But he recalled as an adult how Manor worked hard at everything he did and pushed others to do the same. After working out with Manor at the gym, Green said, he was so sore he could barely lift his arms to put on a T-shirt.
"He was an asset to this community and he will truly be missed," he said.
Manor's daughter, Jay'la, 8, wearing a white dress adorned with small flowers, offered comforting words to the crowd.
"My dad may not be with us now, but you can talk to him in your heart. Let's not cry and remember all the good times that we had," she said.
She urged mourners to be "ohana," which is a Hawaiian word.
"Ohana is family," she said, "and ohana means no one gets left behind."
The service drew to a close about 1 p.m. with Manor's family taking some private time in the church. A police motorcade of about 100 vehicles and an honor guard accompanied Manor's body to Palm Mortuary and Cemetery for burial.
Near the intersection of Jones Boulevard and the 215 Beltway, more than 100 onlookers -- including a line of tow truck drivers -- had gathered to watch as the procession made its way to the cemetery. About 100 police officers riding motorcycles two-by-two led the casket to the cemetery.
Hundreds of officers took their place in formation around Manor's gravesite. A mounted patrol of six horses was led by a seventh riderless horse with the boots reversed in the stirrups, to symbolize the fallen officer.
A multi-agency honor guard made up of scores of officers saluted slowly, in unison, as Metro Police Honor Guard members lifted the coffin from the truck and put in its final resting place.
After prayers by Parsons, a Metro Honor Guard detail of eight officers lined up on either side of the coffin, lifted the flag off its cover and held it in place while a rifle guard of seven shot off three volleys and a bugler played taps.
Ceremonially, they folded the flag and handed it to Gillespie, who delivered it and some words of solace to Manor's mother. He gave a second flag and kind words to Manor's daughter.
After the flyover and final announcement over police radios, Gillespie walked to the casket, stopped and saluted, and walked away. Metro's leadership followed his example, and every officer assigned to his Enterprise Area Command, beginning with the graveyard shift, did the same.
Then every officer attending the funeral – Metro first, followed by other agencies – marched by, saluting as they passed the coffin.
The final salute was offered by New Jersey National Guard Pfc. Candice Hibbert, a friend of Manor's from Eastern Michigan University. Wearing civilian clothes, she paused, saluted slowly, and walked away.
Manor is survived by his daughter, Jay'la Manor, fiancée Monica Johnson, mother, Linda Manor-Wright and her husband, Ray Wright, brothers Willie Manor and his wife, Leslie, Jermond Manor and his wife, Yulander, Omar Manor, Anthony Manor and his wife, Deidra, and Savonta Manor and his wife, Alexandria; sisters Dacia Manor-Moore and her husband, Corey, Sharonda Manor-Foster and her husband, David, Trina Manor, Raeshawn Manor and Tara Manor, and god-sister Monique Johnson; grandparents Lee and Pearl Morris, great-grandmother Lee Essie Webb; and many nieces and nephews, all of Las Vegas.
Discussion: 43 comments so far…
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Unbelievable
Officer Mannor's death is really tragic and I hope Darling gets punished
Officer's Manor's death was tragic. But the only punishment forthcoming is to the officer trailing Manor who lied about the lights and sirens being on and for Sheriff Gillespie, who has shown himself to be clueless at best.
RIP OFFICER MANOR.
There'll be more of these charades, I mean parades, if Metro continues to speed around town as a harzardous threat to public safety instead of a protector.
Poetic justice.
I think now that Officer Manor has been put to rest, the public will find out what really happened. From what I can tell by the reports that have been in the newspaper, Officer Manor was responding to a call and did not turn his lights or sirens on and Mr. Darling was coming home from work after having a few beers, he was turning into his neighborhood and Officer Manor ran into him. In my opinion, Mr. Darling did nothing wrong. At the time of the accident, Metro said he failed a field sobriety test and had a strong smell of alcohol. When the tests came back and showed he was under the legal limit, that cover-up failed. The other officer responding lied and should be fired. The reason they let the driver go is because he was not at fault.
Fault is debatable Denver however Mr. Darling could have been any one of thousands of Las Vegans heading home after a day of work and grabbing a few drinks afterwards.
Metro should use this incident as a wakeup call.. otherwise Mr. Manor's death will have been in vain.
I feel for Mr. Manor's family. I also feel for Mr. Darling and I hope the DA's office does the right thing and drops the DUI charges.
While the community deserves to hear two sides to this tragic story....we only hear one.
Mr. Darling and family...my family will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. You are not alone and know that thousands of Las Vegas feel the same.
The silent majority has had enough of the wreckless ways of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Enough is Enough
I was one of the unfortunate few who did not have the pleasure of meeting officer Manor. But, let me just say this, it is not HOW Officer Manor DIED. It is HOW he LIVED. Looking at the vast number of mourners, he was truly a pillar in our community. The best way to honour him is to put aside the bitterness and strife concerning the accident. It would be a dishonour to officer Manor who was so well admired by all. When your final day comes, what will others say about you? Because of your negativity and hatred, will others be glad or sad? Justice will prevail. Let the law do it's job.
What noone seems to talk about is that (from what I heard on TV) a young girl/young lady placed the 911 call because either the father or mother slapped her for mouthing off. That was no reason for calling 911. We need to go back to the old school when a child stayed in a child's place, or ELSE! Look at what is happening in our homes, schools and communities today. Parents and adults need to take back their power from these children who want to run the home, school and community. I'm sure office Manor was a great role model for the young people he came in contact with. Let us continue his work of turning the lives of our young people around. This is what we can do inorder to continue his legacy in our community.
You are a despicable sub-human being, Harley.
Crawl back under your rock.
Condolences to the Manor family. Judging by the turn out for his services today, he must have been loved and respected by so many people. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
As I was out doing errands today, streets were overflowing with vehicles, as well as a large amount of police cars. The vehicles were parked as far away as several miles from the services... At first i didn't realize what it was, until it dawned on me that today was when Officer Manor's services were to be held.
I feel this was a terrible travesty for both parties concerned. I sympathize with Mr. Darling and his family as well.
I am very anti drink and drive, but I do believe Mr. Darling had a few beers, which were within the legal driving limits, and feel that even if he hadn't had anything to drink the outcome still would have been the same. No lights, no sirens...
From all reports read, it appears Mr Darling acted as a very responsible citizen after the accident occurred. He tried to help the the injured officer and cooperated with the authorities.
Try this...go onto a street and wait in the left hand turn lane for a car, traveling normal speed to come at you...about 50 feet, or the length of one street light from the corner where you wait, consider whether or not you truly have enough time to turn in front of that oncoming car. Now go home, down 3-4 beers, or 1-2 if you are either of smaller size or a woman and go back out and try that again...
Try this...go speeding down a city streey at 90 mph at night without lights or siren, until a car pulls out 100 feet in front of you (the skid marks were at least that long). See if you can stop in time. Now go home, think about it, and next time either slow down or use your lights and sirens when racing down our city streets.
Our_Linn, Harley's points are valid. Darling did nothing wrong and yet the corrupt lying Gillespie needs a perp to cover up for inexcusable,reckless behavior of Metro, even if it means Darling will go to prison for being the victim.By the way who made you the post it cop,perhaps you should find yourself a place under the rock?
Lets get it straight it is sad when anyone dies.There are to many impartial witnesses who say there were no sirens or lights being used previous to this accident. Gillespies is liar and has been throughout his career, he needs a perp to cover up for metro and Manors mistake. From the minute a cadet enters the academy they are taught it is them against us and the citizens are never right. They are instucted to treat everyone as a potential criminal and to never drop a dime on one of their own regardless of how wrong they may be.
Cops do their job like millions of other citizens and are paid well for it. I wonder when a nurse or someone else who gives of themselves for the betterment of mankind dies why don't the cops take up public collections,lower the flags,have a public showing of the funeral as if a head of state had just passed for this fine servant? Once again it is sad what happened to Manor but he and his negligence contributed heavily to this infortunate story. Gillespie keep on lying and providing protection for your drunken girlfriends when they are arrested for various crimes, the same crimes the average citizen would answer for. Metro is one of the most corrupt police forces in the nation.
Here's what's sad:
- One man dead.
- One man fighting for his freedom, livelihood, and reputation.
There are no winners here.
S711
I have heard it put in so many ways it is getting a bit out of hand.As the facts come in more and more Mr Darling will have to lawyer up to clear his name!This man no doubt has drove this same direction many many times in the past and in some ways can be called a "expert" in this particular travel.Im sure he has faced the same case in the past,but with different results.Im also pretty sure he can tell the closer rate if the car is traveling at the posted speed.Im also pretty sure that Mr Darling has faced emergency vehicles in the past,and has seen the lights and yeilded.This was a tradegty all the way around! Officers allways state its best to be honest and its time they walk the walk! We all see how they down right abuse there athority while driveing,and sometimes makes me think how dare they stop someone for just the same offense they just committed?RIP officer Manor! My prayers to your loved ones.As for Metro, this serves as a very good wake up call? Its time you started to sit down with your officers,and tell them its time to practice what your trying to preach.I deal with metro dayly,and have noticed the quality has gone down.If things continue the way they are,and can see the public turning a blind eye when it comes to law inforcment,and takeing things more and more in there own hands.I would like to state that i am a retired officer,and have no desire to deal with many of the officers that are out there now!
I would also like to add one more point. If indeed it does come out that the light bar,and sirien was not activated,the trailing officer should be removed! If metro gets lucky,no one in the past that has dealt with this officer comes foward with claims of false reports?They could come into question?
Re: rumrunner
Very valid point! Excellent post!
NRS 484.317 Vehicle turning left. The driver of a vehicle within an intersection intending to turn to the left shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard.
Thats it. That's all that matters. This is the law. A driver has to yield to on coming traffic prior to making a left hand turn. Mr. Darling did not, he caused the fatal accident. It does not matter if Ofc. Manor was speeding, he had the right of way. Every hipocrite who wants to fault Ofc. Manor for speeding should look at their own spedometer every now and then. I have seen and written several tickets to normal citizens for speeds in excess of 70mph on Flamingo in that area, and their most common excuse was "I'm running late". At least Ofc. Manor was responding to a 911 call where he believed a child was in immediate danger, even though that call proved to be false. How about charging the lying, disrespectful, and rude teen who didn't like the fact that her mom/dad were punishing her for doing wrong so she'll make up a false 911 call which resulted in this. She should be held just as accountable for creating the false emergency.
Before anyone makes any more comments about how Mr. Darling is innocent and shouldn't be charged, pull out the Nevada Revised Statues and read the law. Even if it wasn't a police officer he turned in front of, he's still guilty of failing to yield to on coming traffic which resulted in a death. He, however, just happened to kill a hero within our community.
God Bless Ofc. Manor, his family, and every fellow officer who puts their life on the line to protect the citizens of Clark County, even though many are ungrateful.
Comment removed by staff.
Yes, LocalOfficer is a bit of a disgrace to his profession. Brainless interpretations of Nevada Statutes are a dime a dozen. The key wording is "or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard." When a vehicle is going 90mph at night without lights and sirens, any driver would deem 150 feet as not "so close ... to constitute an immediate hazard." It is the court's job to interpret the law and no court will convict a driver who was hit by another car going 90 mph without lights or siren. According to LocalOfficer's interpretation, if a car is travelling 500mph down a city street and it hits you as you are pulling into an intersection, then you are at fault. Thankfully we have a judicial system which corrects the sometimes faulty ways of the police.
What LocalOfficer fails to mention is that the real issue here is the lying police officer who was trailing the accident. Thus the lying arrest report about the lights and sirens. Thus Gillespie's idiot statement to the media. Like it or not, someone is going to go down on this one and it won't be Darling.
This is a problem in other cities as well.
Metro, are you listening?
Citizen lawmakers, take notice.
................................
LAPD chief wants to relax policy on using lights and sirens.
The department hopes to broaden use of Code 3 to avoid the unofficial practice of speeding without warning other drivers.
By Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES -- In police lingo it's known as Code 3: An emergency call that sends cops speeding through traffic with the squad car's lights flashing and sirens blaring.
Then there's "Code 2 1/2 ," an off-the-books practice of racing to a call without lights or sirens to warn other drivers. It's the street cops' way to work around strict Los Angeles Police Department rules that limit when they can drive Code 3.
Rest of story ------->
http://www.policeone.com/chiefs-sheriffs...
I am sure officer Manor was a nice guy ...but a hero?
it is getting so anyone with a uniform automatically assumes the mantle of hero.
Absolutely ridiculous.
P.S
the worst part is these guys start to believe themselves.
What nobody is talking about is how Darling's life is ruined. Yes, I do feel bad for the officer who died. I don't think anyone deserves that.....but the fact is, we have to move on.
Since we can't bring Officer Manor back to life, let's concentrate on the other victim here.....Mr. Darling. His life has been turned upside down because of this tragedy. Of course he couldn't pass a field sobriety test......would you be able to pass a field sobriety test moments after getting rocked by a speeding car at 90 MPH???? Even if you were sober, I think you fail 99 times out of 100.
My condolences to Officer Manor and his family. This was a tragic accident that didn't need to happen. However, let's not destroy a 2nd life. I've got no skin in the game, as I don't know any of the parties personally......I'd like to see justice served here and let Darling move on with his life.
S711
I am a "bit of disgrace to my profession" according to Mikenyc. Let me throw this out, you get a phone call from your spouse saying there's an emergency at home, you're speeding along as any concerned spouse would be, and a car turns in front of you because they failed to yield and you're killed. Do you think that your name would be dragged through the mud, or would the public be faulting the driver to make the unsafe turn in front of you? Would you want your family to listen to all the negative comments about your unsafe driving because you felt the need to rush home? Would you be making such judgemental comments if it wasn't a police officer responding to a 911 call?
And lets get this straight, in an officer lies during an official investigation, we are terminated. And when we are at fault in a traffic accident, we do get issued citations, we do have to go to court, and even though it is a work related accident, it does get reported to the DMV so our personal insurance rates go up. On top of that, we also have to appear in front of an accident review board where we are subject to more discipline, anywhere from a written reprimand up to a major suspension. Some might call that double jeapordy, but we are still subject to it. Is my job worth it to lie about whether or not I was rolling code or how fast I was going? I think not. You can talk about your conspiracy theories and cover ups, but officers are held one hundred times more accountable for our actions then anyone else in society. We make split second decisions that the courts, media, public, and anyone else who has an opinion has years to tear apart. Unless you walk a mile in our shoes, you have no right to comment on how we do our jobs. We made the choice to put our lives on the line in a thankless profession because the most vocal critics of police work don't have the hearts or bravery to do it themselves. When you call 911 asking for help, do you want the police there as quickly as possible or do you want us to drive the exact speed limit, stop at every light, and delay our arrival? You complain when we drive fast responding to one of the thousands of calls we receive daily, and you complain when we don't arrive fast enough to your call. Make up your mind. Honor the brave officer and his family who lost their son/brother/father/friend and stop criticizing him. Let the investigation run its course and allow the facts to come out. You're only causing more pain to those that love him by tearing him down.
LocalOfficer,
I am very appreciative of the police in general. But your interpretation of the Nevada statutes was incorrect at best. And no one is criticizing Officer Manor. The facts is he was speeding down Flamingo without his lights or sirens. Eyewitnesses with no axe to grind and skid marks don't lie. It is also fact that the arrest report says the lights and sirens were on. As the trailing officer was responsible for this misinformation, he must be lying. I am not going to criticize the police for the DWI charge. It turned out not to be the case, but I believe it was an honest mistake. But it was Sheriff Gillespie who went to the media and on tv to claim that the lights and sirens were on and also that Darling "hit" Officer Manor, both incorrect. That was incredibly irresponsible of Gillespie. So while you accuse others of being quick to judge, it is in fact your own department which has done so, at the expense of Darling who has been in effect "hung out to dry" by your own department.
By asking if we want the police to respond quickly, you are evading the issue. Speeding without lights and sirens is against your own policy. It has nothing to do with a "split second decision".
Hopefully you will understand the public's frustration with the police actions in this case. Officer Manor's death was tragic for all who knew him. But police actions after the fact smell like a coverup and the public will not stand for it.
Local Officer - I am very appreciative of the Police efforts and I am thankful for their public service.
However, that does not excuse the way Darling has been left as the scapegoat in this unfortunate accident. It was an accident. Can't we just let this guy heal and move on with his life? He will have a lot to deal with as it is.....let alone with this court case to deal with.
S711
Sinatra711, you make a very good point about Mr Darling not being able to pass a field sobriety test;but I'll go you one better: I was arrested in 2003 in Idaho for DUI; I too failed the field sobriety tests, acording to the arresting officer. Of course the arresting officer was acting on a DUI tip called in by my sister in law as a payback, the ISP officer was her friend, etc. I had no alcohol or drugs in my system, I was tested, the entire bust was a fraud, but it cost me a fortune for my lawyer and my name was published locally. The arresting officer perjured herself giving sworn testimony; and the arrest tape was edited and redubbed before my lawyer received a copy.The whole game is rigged by the cops, of course Darling flunked the field sobriety tests; I did too; while stone sober while en route to Ft. Lewis with my daughter to be married. They had me blow the breathalyzer over and over because it read 0.000.The backup ISP cop in my case, told my daughter that he didn't know why Greear was arresting me, it was 7:30 AM, I wasn't intoxicated. What it was, in my case and in the case of Manor and Darling, is a case of CYA by the cops. In my case the ISP failed to show up for the trial I demanded; every time I read of this case I read that Darling was arrested for DUI but not charged, its CYA all over again.
Local Officer You are doing a marvelous job of dredging up what if's and when it happens to demonstrate what a is expected of law enforcement. Quite frankly that is what they get paid for. The facts are Manor did not have his overhead lights and siren on.Period. Manor was cop not a hero but a cop.Gillespie is a liar and the lying machine for Metro is in full action. You and your convoluted thinking is a perfect example of what is wrong with law enforcement today and speaks loudly as to why most law abiding citizens have a distrust for law enforcement. The rules are always different for law enforcement and they seem to never be accountable for anything they do. You have just given a red herring, meaningless argument for your profession.
It might be worth noting here that Darling has now been suspended by MGM Mirage for embarrrassing them by allowing Manor to run into him while on a 911 call without his lights and siren on. Meanwhile Gillespie is lying as fast as he can about the facts of this incident.
Let's not forget that beyond all the political crap, a young man was left dead. Put the fact that he was a cop aside and think about the young man who lost his life. Most of you don't know the full story, nor do I. Let's stop arguing over who was wrong and who was right and leave that to the authorities. I don't believe the authorities were trying to cover up anything. I believe that they had two conflicting stories and were merely trying to find out which one was truthful. The bystanders who saw the accident in that neighborhood may have been trying to protect Darling or maybe the fellow officer was trying to protect Manor's name. None of us really know for sure. Here is my one complaint. Yes Darling was under the legal limit, but he did admit to drinking before. If you have ever had a drink, you should know that alcohol can affect different people in different ways. One drink may do nothing for one person, but may be too much for another. A few beers could have still hindered his judgement. Yes, we do need to make sure all officers use their lights and sirens. At the same time, i'm pretty sure Manor had his regular lights on as any person would at night. In this case, Darling should have seen him coming regardless of flashing blue/red lights and sirens. Any alert driver would have seen him coming. I never turn without making sure it's clear first. It's called being an alert and cautious driver. I suggest the police check the camera's of the police car that was behind Manor. If his signals weren't on then that should be a lesson for all cops, but Darling should still spend time serving the community because one beer is too much beer when you get behind the wheel. Jail is probably not the best solution, but community service should be mandatory for the rest of his life. Regardless of who was wrong, Manor is dead. For the person who said he's not a hero, He may not have been to you, but he sure as heck was to his 8 year old daughter.
The authorities have already gone to the media and given their "story" which has turned out to not to be the truth. The main witness is not a "bystander", but was in a car directly behind the accident. He didn't know Darling and has no reason to lie. The police 'witness" is the officer trailing the accident who has every reason to lie in order to protect himself and the department. The truth is that the officers were racing down Flamingo at 90mph without lights or sirens which is in direct violation of departmental policy as well as the law.
Darling was not over the .08 limit. It will be very difficult for any jury to find him impaired in a court of law. Thus Darling is likely to walk away with no charges.
The police department should be reprimanded for the way they have handled this case. Gillespie's reputation will be permanantly tarnished. They are not to be trusted to investigate themselves. Hopefully the NHP will do an unbiased job.
nvgyrl - Are you that naive? Do you really think that someone who had drank beers, but below the legal limit should have to pay with community service for an accident? Are you really that naive to believe that a car traveling 90 MPH, even with it's lights on, is easy for a person driving in the opposite direction to gauge when/when not to turn on a street where the speed limit is 45 MPH? Are you kidding me?
If the world existed as you described, do you know how many people would be serving life sentence community service? Because of accidents that caused a death?
That is one of the most ridiculous arguments I've ever read.
S711
Naive? Oh, what a small mind you have. Calm down. Let's keep peace in the air. God help us all. Even if he wasn't legally drunk, why risk driving regardless? Everyone should be doing some type of community service in their life, so if you think that's so horrible then God help you. Geez, it's not like I said every single day of the rest of his life. Once a month would suffice. Rest in Peace James Manor. May God protect you Darling. My prayers go out to both families. I know everyone has suffered on both sides. Sinatra can have the last word. It's not a war. :)
To the family of Officer Manor...I am so very sorry for your loss. I have thought about you every single day and I pray for you all. Your Hero is my Hero and you should know that there are thousands of people who feel that way!
I would like to say to ALL the police officers who do infact serve my community (my often silly and thankless community), who do in fact care about people and risk their lives every single day they go to work, and who do in fact have to make choices I would never want to make... THANK YOU! To your families who worry about you nonstop, who probably say "don't do this job, no one likes you anyway.." T-H-A-N-K - Y-O-U! God Bless you!!! I hope if someone ever loses his or her life TRYING to help me that I will have been the kind of person who deserved that help!
This man was, IS a hero. I think every one who doesn't trust the police should put their names on a list. Call it the Don't Come Help Me List. So that no one will ever die trying to save somebody who wouldn't have even said thank you!!!
And yeah, if you get caught driving after drinking you should be in trouble! JUST BECAUSE SO MANY OF YOU DRINK AND DRIVE DOESN'T MEAN IT'S OK. IT WILL NEVER BE OK TO DRINK AND DRIVE!!!
AND JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY GETS PAID TO DO A DANGEROUS JOB DOESN'T MAKE IT OK TO KILL THEM!
Thank you to all of metro for your service, and to the families of our fine men and women, thank you for your daily sacrifices!
I would like to say to ALL the police officers who want to serve the community, who do risk their lives, stop speeding down our city streets without lights and sirens. You reckless driving is endangering yourself and others. JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE THE POLICE DOES NOT GIVE YOU A LICENSE TO BREAK THE LAW. NEITHER DOES IT GIVE YOU LICENSE TO LIE AND CREATE FALSE ARREST REPORTS. NOR DOES IT ALLOW YOU TO GO ON TV AND REPEAT SAME LIES.
It is time for an independant investigative body to examine the Metro police and their procedures and to recommend changes.
How much of our tax dollars have been spent so far ?
actually, yes Metro you should definately slow down....your up against a city full of awful drivers who if read correctly appear to be drinking and driving all over town. You officers take your time, chill out, relax. Have a beer! Maybe then if your are killed people will care! IDIOT!
Yes, Metro should slow down when not using their lights and sirens. It is against the law to speed when not using them. Yes, many officers drink and drive. If in doubt, just go to one of their watering holes in town.
Learn english. It is a great language when spoken correctly.
I am not speaking, I am writing...with a baby on my lap...you'll have to forgive my mistakes. don't lecture me about my english. i was born and raised in the USA. so was my whole freakin family. It's just a language.
I bet if this accident had been reverse, a cop driving home after three beers and someone speeding hit him while the cop was making a left hand turn you would not be so "forgiving".
Mr. Darling was drinking. Thats it! it's not ok to drink and drive. just because everyone does it doesn't make it ok and if so then it's fine for the cop to speed to a 911 since everybody speeds as well.
"Mr. Darling was drinking. Thats it! it's not ok to drink and drive. just because everyone does it doesn't make it ok and if so then it's fine for the cop to speed to a 911 since everybody speeds as well."
You make no sense. Have a nice day.
i didn't realize that speeding at such a high rate of speed was the normal in vegas. i mean, i understand people in vegas speed, but i doubt that we all speed at double the speed limit (i wouldn't be suprised if it was more than the 10MPH over the limit), at such DANGEROUS levels such as the police officer with no lights. this police officer put did not risk his life for others, he risked his life for himself, by making the mistake of not putting his lights on and speeding at the high rate of speed he was going.