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By Jackie Valley (contact) 
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | 11:03 a.m.
David Pisciotta Jr.
A Metro Police officer has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after allegedly hurting his ex-girlfriend during a dispute and then breaking into her car.
Officer David Pisciotta Jr., 24, was arrested March 18 and charged with battery constituting domestic violence and burglary. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
According to an arrest report, officers responded to a call by Pisciotta's ex-girlfriend, Tiffany Nelson, who reported that he had broken into her car at her workplace and stolen a black leather purse with miscellaneous identification and credit cards.
Nelson's co-worker had told her he saw Pisciotta inside her vehicle earlier that day, the report alleges.
Officers also noted in the report that they observed a cut on Nelson's hand and bruise to her upper left arm that she said occurred earlier at their apartment when Pisciotta tried to grab her keys and allegedly pushed her to the ground.
Pisciotta denied injuring Nelson when interviewed by police, according to the arrest report. He admitted to having her purse in his truck, but said she left it at the apartment.
Pisciotta told police he used a spare key to enter Nelson's car to retrieve his backpack, iPod and iPod charger, according to the report. Police noted in the report, however, that Nelson had previously denied having any of his property in her car.
Police arrested Pisciotta based on Nelson's visible injuries and the witness statements, according to the report.
Metro spokesman Marcus Martin said Pisciotta will be on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Pisciotta started working for the department in May 2009.
Las Vegas finest
Business as usual at the Las Vegas Metro Police. I think it is time for a Justice Department investigation like the one that just took place in New Orleans.
Those guys that select the new officers are doing a great job.
Looks like Mr. Pisciotta has ended his career as a police officer. As well as ending his right to have fire arms. Metro was right by placing him on unpaid leave pending the outcome. In the meantime
Mr. Pisciotta might want to consider the job opportunities that will be available to him while he is in jail if convicted.
Yant, Mendiola, Mausner and now Pisciotta. The list of dirty Metro cops goes on and on. I can't wait to see Mendiola go to jail. It would be poetic justic for the Erik Scott family. Hopefully Yant will face justice. He just can't help himself to shoot somebody.
I am not defending what this guy did , IF what the woman says is true, and if so he should be fired and treated as anybody else who does this , not acceptable....BUT, I am sure there are no bad apples in your line of work By C_Bess or mred....I am sure that NOBODY that you work with or for that matter in any other line of work breaks the law....there are bad apples everywhere....this shouldn't reflect on the many many fine officers that protect the L.V. area and respond w/o reguard for their own lives when you call when you need help......lets treat those bad apples as they should be treated and not lump EVERYBODY together....that would be like saying every black man is bad becasue one is in prison (racism), or every woman is easy because on is (Not true) or every man is a rapist because one is (Not true), on and on......when you lump everybody in because of what ONE or a few bad apples have done it shows your lack of education
How can a person like this be put on the street? He's a huge liability. His word is mud. If someone accuses him of police brutality, whether true or not, this can be introduced as behavioral evidence at the trial. Terminate him.
What people need to realize is that good cops don't want bad cops on the dept. any more than the regular citizens do. When an officer does something bad, he/she makes everyone else look bad too. But unfortunately like former Sheriff Keller used to say, the officers hired are human beings so there will always be a few bad apples. It's no different than every other profession.
I agree that alot of the cops on the street these days are bad cops. Arrogant, rude, power hungry to name a few adjectives. Im a law abiding tax paying citizen who has wittnessed bad behavior first hand.
Adding insult to injury, Attorney General Holder wants to lower Civil Service Test scores so more 'undesirables' can enter Civil Service.
"What people need to realize is that good cops don't want bad cops on the dept. any more than the regular citizens do. "
If that is the case why do rank and file officers and unions then defend EVERY SINGLE officer accused of any crime, no matter how henious?
Goingbust if that was the case then you wouldn't be reading this story.
chillout mred, it sounds like metro is handling the situation as well as anyone should.
i'll blast the cops at times too when i think they have it coming, but lets be objective here.
Bad cops aren't good for anybody, let alone law enforcement. Every profession has some bad seeds, they will deal with this guy.
Re-elect the sheriff again. He does an excellent job as being a leader.
Pisciotta will probably get a desk job, like Mr.Yant.
Metro might LOOK AT HIRING PROCEDURE--seems like they're getting more than a couple of turkeys in the mix. Cops ARE SOCIAL WORKERS. If you're not a "people person" you might try another career--say we need SOME GOOD TEACHERS.
@ smoke14....Actually your argument that defining an organization by is members is akin to racist/sexism is one of ignorance. While I can understand how this over simplistic theory would bee attractive at first glance it ignores the obvious. Metro is made up of a group of like minded people with similar backgrounds. Every member joined voluntarily and had to be approved by the collective. In addition, they all underwent the exact same training program. Metro is more like a gang than race, and I doubt anyone would have trouble with someone saying that all members of the Donna Street Crips are criminals based on the actions of a few of them.
That being said, I am actually encouraged by this story as it shows that Metro doesn't always hold its members above the law.
@bghs1986...................I guess if you believe LVMPD is a "gang" as you put it , then I guess when you need 911 assistance don't call them because you wouldn't want a gang at your house......using your logic I can lump all bghs1986s into a catagory of prior arrests and authority haters do to your past
Any cop involved with domestic abuse should immediatelty be terminated-bottom line.
@smoker14....Any call I make to 911 would be made only if I determine the whatever help they would provide outweighed the risks of having the kill myself or one of my family members.