Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Law Enforcement:

Police: 2 arrested after chase had stolen car, officer’s gun

Chase

Photos from Metro Police

Jason James Dillinger, 32, and Ashley Ann Shaheen, 27, were arrested Tuesday after an hour-long police chase that ended at the Suncoast casino.

Suncoast Casino

The release today of arrest reports for the two people allegedly involved in a police chase early Tuesday morning have yielded new details about the pursuit.

Jason James Dillinger, 32, and Ashley Ann Shaheen, 27, were arrested at the Suncoast casino after the chase, which started shortly before 6 a.m. and lasted about an hour. The pursuit led Metro Police through the Las Vegas Valley on both highways and residential streets.

The vehicle, a white Toyota Scion, was unregistered and appeared to be stolen from Findlay Honda, the report says.

Dillinger, the driver of the vehicle, was arrested in connection with possession of a stolen vehicle, evading a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon and five counts of possession of stolen property.

The report released today indicates Dillinger had a gun stolen from an off-duty Metro Police officer in his possession and brandished it at a Suncoast security officer before his arrest.

Shaheen, the passenger, was arrested in connection with two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of conspiracy to commit carrying a concealed weapon.

According to the report, Shaheen was carrying a briefcase that had a stolen Apple laptop and the loaded, stolen firearm inside.

Inside the Scion, police found numerous credit cards and other property that had been reported stolen by several different people. Three magazines of ammunition were found in the car and Shaheen was found to have a bullet in her pocket that matched the type and brand issued to Metro officers, the report says.

Police also found a device commonly used to break into vehicles and said the key used to start the Scion had been shaved.

The report indicates the pursuit began after a bartender at Kilroy’s, 4740 S. Grand Canyon Parkway, observed suspicious activity outside the bar via a closed-circuit surveillance system in the early morning hours Tuesday. The bartender saw a vehicle park next to a van and a man got out. The bartender told police he saw the man pace back and forth between vehicles and thought he saw a fight.

He went outside and saw a newer model Scion leave the area at a high rate of speed, according to the police report. The van that had been parked next to the Scion had a broken window.

The bartender then went inside and told the owner of the van, who was still at the bar, that the window had been broken. The van’s owner reported that two bags of power tools had been taken from his vehicle.

Metro Police officers in the area noticed the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed as it traveled from Kilroy’s, southbound on Grand Canyon. The Scion's lights were turned off and it turned eastbound onto Reno Avenue. Two cruisers activated lights and sirens and tried to get the vehicle to stop, which it didn’t, police say.

At about 5:48 a.m., police helicopters responded and cruisers on the ground were advised to pull back. Officers in the helicopter observed the vehicle continue southbound on Fort Apache and then wind through the valley’s streets “with no regard to traffic control devices or the general public,” the report says.

About an hour later, at 6:45 a.m., the vehicle pulled into the parking garage at the Suncoast.

A Suncoast security officer was advised of the incident and began to follow the vehicle from her car. The Scion stopped on the second floor of the garage and a man and woman, later identified as Dillinger and Shaheen, exited and began to run toward the elevators, the report said. The woman was carrying a black brief case.

As the officer gave chase with her weapon drawn, Dillinger brandished a Glock .40-caliber -- later determined to have been stolen from an off-duty police officer -- at the security officer. When he pointed the gun at her, she ducked behind a concrete pillar, the report says.

Dillinger and Shaheen were taken into custody inside the casino elevator.

The man whose van had been broken into arrived at the Suncoast and identified two bags found inside the Scion as his belongings.

Dillinger is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on a combined $25,000 bail. Jail records indicate he also is being held on a bench warrant for unrelated drug charges. Shaheen is being held on a combined $12,000 bail.

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