Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

2 Metro officers charged in fatal police pursuit

Updated Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 | 4:37 p.m.

Crash location

Metro Police said criminal charges have been filed against two officers involved in a May vehicle pursuit that resulted in the suspect's death.

Metro officials said the two officers — Andrew Ubbens and Aron Carpenter — ignored multiple orders from a sergeant to stop the pursuit after they tried to pull the suspect over for allegedly driving under the influence. Police said Carpenter's vehicle collided with the suspect's Honda Civic on May 19 near the intersection of Lone Mountain Road and Lamb Boulevard in North Las Vegas, killing 27-year-old Ivan Carrillo.

Carpenter, 29, was charged with felony reckless driving and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Ubbens, 26, was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving, officials said.

Metro recommended to the District Attorney's Office that the officers face criminal charges after its investigation revealed internal policies and traffic laws were violated during the pursuit, officials said.

"They're police officers and, you know, they love their jobs," said Joseph Lombardo, deputy chief of Metro's special operations division. "They want to do the right thing. I believe they were caught up in the moment."

Police said regardless of their intentions, the bottom line remains the same: The officers didn't follow their supervisor's commands.

"Any time we make a decision to charge our own officers, you can very well believe we're not taking this lightly," Lombardo said. "That's a very tough decision for a police department. It involves transparency because we can't lose the public's trust."

The two officers allegedly engaged in the car chase without using their emergency lights or sirens after the sergeant told them to stop the pursuit, according to arrest reports released Wednesday.

Lombardo said the sergeant told the officers to stop the pursuit because of public safety concerns. Because the Honda Civic possibly had been involved in a domestic violence situation earlier in the day, the sergeant decided police might instead be able to identify the suspect that way or by the vehicle's registration information, Lombardo said.

During a second interview with police, Ubbens said he unsuccessfully attempted a common police pursuit maneuver that would disable the Civic, according to the arrest report. Instead, officials allege Ubbens' vehicle ran into the back of Carrillo's car and caused the suspect to momentarily lose control.

Officials said Carpenter continued the pursuit once the suspect regained control and followed him to the intersection of Lamb Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road. Carpenter and Carrillo's vehicles allegedly made contact, causing Carrillo to lose control of his Honda Civic and travel into oncoming traffic on Lamb Boulevard, where it was struck by a Ford Contour, according to the arrest report. Two other vehicles also were involved in the crash, officials said.

Carrillo and the driver of the Ford Contour were taken to University Medical Center, where Carrillo died a short time later, officials said. Police said a toxicology report later concluded that Carrillo had methamphetamines in his system, among other substances.

Investigators said Carpenter was driving about the same speed as Carrillo — 61 or 62 mph in a 45 mph zone — at the time of the collision, according to the arrest report.

The District Attorney's Office submitted the case to the North Las Vegas Justice Court because that's where the incident occurred.

Carpenter has been with the department since November 2006 and Ubbens has been with the department since February 2008. Both were assigned to the Northeast Area Command and have been on paid administrative leave until the formal filing of charges.

Officials said Ubbens will remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of Metro's internal investigation, but Carpenter will be placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal trial because of the severity of the charges.

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