Quantcast
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue

sponsored by
News


LV officer injured on duty honored

Latino group to present award in November

A Metropolitan Police Department officer who was shot multiple times while responding to a routine call was named the 2008 Police Officer of the Year by a national law enforcement organization.

Ricardo Lara, who has been a Las Vegas police officer for nearly five years, was selected for the honor by the National Latino Peace Officers Association, police officials said Thursday. The group is the largest Latino law enforcement organization in the country, with more than 80 chapters and a membership of more than 25,000. Lara will be presented with the award on Nov. 1, during a convention in Denver.


Most Popular Stories
  • Traffic accident claims life of longtime, successful lawyer
  • NORM: Buchanan called 'larger than life'
  • One motorcyclist killed, another critically injured in accident
  • THE FACES OF JOBLESSNESS: Family had to get help for first time
  • NORM: Marie Osmond, manager battling
  • Nurseries fence out day laborers
  • Second person dies after being restrained by police
  • NORM: Agassi reveals bad vibes with Shields
  • North Las Vegas motorcyclist killed in collision while racing, police say
  • Las Vegas police make arrest in 2008 slaying




  • Lara works out of the Enterprise Area Command substation, which serves the southwest valley.

    News accounts said Lara was shot six times on Feb. 26, 2007. He was wearing an armored vest, which saved his life. Lara and officer Dale Jones were responding to a call about a fight at Yummy's Sushi and Chinese Restaurant, 8125 Sahara Ave., near Cimarron Road.

    When officers arrived, three men fled in a brown Honda sedan, heading south on Cimarron toward Desert Inn Road, witnesses said. Officers attempted to pull the car over, but the driver sped away. The Honda was ditched at Cimarron and Edna Avenue and one suspect ran into a residential area. A police helicopter spotted the man entering a home about a mile from the sushi restaurant.

    "While officers were clearing an upper bedroom, the suspect began firing at officers from behind a bedroom door," according to a statement released by police.

    Jones was grazed on the chin with a bullet.

    The suspect, Justin Brimmer, 28, was shot and killed by police.

    Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 14 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    Report abuse

    SamT wrote on September 05, 2008 11:06 PM: Enough with the cops-are-heroes tripe.

    They're not.


    Report abuse

    packe wrote on September 05, 2008 06:15 PM: Ricky, one cop to another, you're a hero brother. Congrats on your award you earned just like I earned mine. Don't let the haters get you down.

    Hey RJ (Rag Journal) way to enforce your post rules. You let SD post a comment hoping to see a cop murdered, but you've censored me for far less. No media slant here. Most of you cowards wont even post your real names.


    Report abuse

    Chicano wrote on September 05, 2008 05:49 PM: Let me see! He gets an award for getting injured. I'm glad he lived through this ordeal but to be recognized for risking his life!! Isn't that what he is paid for? I'm a retired police officer from here in the valley and my reward for risking my life was a bi-weekly paycheck and now it's a pension. I am also Latino. I think the LPOA is wrong. No officer should be rewarded for saving his/her own life or for simply surviving an injury.


    Report abuse

    Retired wrote on September 05, 2008 03:50 PM: The darker the skin the deeper the bias.


    Report abuse

    Proud 702 citizen wrote on September 05, 2008 02:48 PM: You people really need to get a hold of yourselves. When you are being assaulted, who will you call? The police, right? If a Hispanic officer arrives to save your butt will you say to him (or god forbid, her) that you would rather wait for a white officer to respond.

    Also you should probably learn to spell, it's RACIST. It is obvious that you hold a grudge toward minorities or else you would not have called yourself "white officer assoc."

    Get a hold of yourself and learn to spell. Come on people learn some humility and congratulate this officer for a job well done. It does not matter who gives this officer this award, he is still a hero for the simple fact that he still puts on his uniform every day, despite being shot 6 TIMES! This officer is a true hero in my eyes.


    Report abuse

    white officer assoc. wrote on September 05, 2008 12:54 PM: I wish the Latino officer's association would honor me for my heroism. Oh wait, I'm not latino, I'M WHITE! So they honor him because of his skin color?
    To balance this I will start a European Officer's associatin and just honor those whites out there. Oh, I can't do that because that would be percieved as being RASICT!
    The LOA, BOA and the ASA are all racist hypocrites! For you moron liberals out there BOA means Black Officer's association and ASA means Asian Officer's.


    Report abuse

    Virga wrote on September 05, 2008 12:36 PM: Latino Peace Officers. Thats a good idea. We could hire them from Mexico. They would work a lot cheaper and do the jobs that American policemen do not want to do. No retirement no insurance, of cource American policemen would be taxed more to pay for larger schools and free medical care. American policemen would be require to learn Spanish so to communicate with the Mexicans.

    Then with their anchor babys they could draw the S.S. that the American policemen paid for.


    Report abuse

    Mike K. wrote on September 05, 2008 12:22 PM: sd,

    Won't it be so ironic that at the first sign of trouble that your first call will be to Metro to ask for help? And by that way if you had put your sub-par reading skills to use and actually read the article, you would have noticed that a private group (National Latino Peace Officers Association) is giving him the award.

    To Officer Lara, I'm happy that you came through this ordeal safely and congratulations on the award.


    Report abuse

    sd wrote on September 05, 2008 11:55 AM: What a waste of taxpayers time and money. No doubt he'll get a pay raise.
    Too bad he wan't shot with teflon coated bullets. That would have stopped this clown.

    Next time aim for the head.
    Just another bad cop who lucked out.
    Give him his lolly pop and send him on his way.



    Report abuse

    mission031 wrote on September 05, 2008 11:50 AM: As expected, I see all of the "haters" don't have a lot to say. In fact, many of you probably don't even recall this story from last year. And you know why? It's because the story speaks of true heroism displayed by a police officer. And for some reason, that doesn't get reported on often. This case involved a cowardly suspect who was hoping to take out as many officers as he could...and you know what, he failed.

    And do you know what the officer is doing today? I'll tell you, he's still patroling the streets, going call to call and doing his job at making a difference.


    Read All Comments