DENISE GLASCO INQUEST: Woman's shooting justified - News

PRINT THIS Popular

Aug. 24, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

DENISE GLASCO INQUEST: Woman's shooting justified

Witnesses say erratic behavior led to her death

By BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas police officer Justin Byers demonstrates during a coroner's inquest Thursday how Denise Glasco allegedly lunged with a knife before she was shot and killed.
Photo by Gary Thompson.

Pepper spray. Four Taser jolts. Nine blasts from a bean bag shot gun.

None of it stopped Denise Glasco, who still clutched her knife and continued wading through stopped traffic on Martin Luther King Boulevard trying to open car doors, police and witnesses told a coroner's inquest jury Thursday.

Most Popular Stories

NORM: Terry Fator, wife ending marriage

NORM: Blaze breaks out during magic act

NORM: Jackson worked on album at Palms

Ex-Ensign aide details wife's affair

NORM: Jacksons set up LV memorial area

SENATOR'S AFFAIR: Hamptons given $96,000 in gifts

LV area residential real estate sales reach record in June

Ensign wrote lover a letter, saying their affair was a 'sin'

Coroner says sexual assault suspect killed by police was shot in back

Official: Fatal gunshot in back

Not until two bullets ripped through her chest did she fall to the ground. Even then she tried to push herself up before succumbing to the fatal wounds.

After hearing the events leading up to Glasco's June 12 death, the coroner's inquest jurors deliberated for about 30 minutes before unanimously finding that Las Vegas police officers Jennifer Santiago and Kenneth Krmpotich were justified in the shooting.

Police first encountered Glasco about 7:50 a.m. after a disturbance at the Jack in the Box restaurant on the corner of Martin Luther King and Lake Mead Boulevard, where she had pulled a knife on a teenager getting breakfast with his mother, police said.

But Glasco's erratic behavior began hours earlier when she spent the night at an acquaintance's house. Alexandria Fields, a 14-year-old who lived at the house, said she was scared by what she saw.

"She started acting like she was seeing stuff," she testified. "She was talking to herself. She was tripping."

An autopsy found PCP in Glasco's system. The drug can cause hallucinations and make users immune to pain.

Officers Justin Byers and Zohn Kovene responded to the Jack in the Box call and tried to talk to Glasco, who had moved across the street with her 3-year-old son in tow. Glasco ignored the officers' commands to stop and tried to get into a minivan stopped at a red light.

That's when Officer Mary Lou Crocker shot Glasco with her Taser. The shock didn't drop Glasco, but it stunned her long enough to allow Byers to pull Glasco's son away from her, he testified.

Crocker hit Glasco with another five-second burst of electrical current, but she just ripped the Taser prongs from her skin and continued up the street, Crocker testified.

"She was saying, 'You can't hurt me. ... You're going to have to kill me,'" Crocker said.

Glasco continued walking backward up Martin Luther King while the officers followed. Krmpotich shot Glasco four times in the torso with a bean bag shotgun, and she hardly flinched, the officers said. Santiago shot her with a Taser, and Krmpotich fired twice more at her chest with his bean bag shotgun.

When those failed, Krmpotich tried to shoot the knife from Glasco's hand even though it's something police aren't trained to do, he said. One bean bag hit Glasco's right biceps, but her arm didn't move and she didn't drop the knife. He fired at her right hand but missed, he said.

Two more bean bags to her chest and a blast of pepper spray proved just as futile.

"She was just laughing. No effect," said Jeffery Payne, who watched the confrontation unfold from a nearby McDonald's. "She never stopped."

The officers followed Glasco as she moved from the empty side of the street into the traffic backing up in the southbound lanes. They yelled at motorists to lock their doors and roll up their windows as Glasco started reaching into cars and trying to open doors, the officers testified.

"We were all frantic, just worried about what she might do," Santiago said. "We didn't want a hostage situation."

Santiago fired one shot when Glasco lunged at Officer Robert Alford, she said.

Glasco remained standing despite the gunshot wound to her chest, the officers said.

"She yells, 'Is that all you got? That didn't hurt,'" Kovene said.

A few seconds later, Krmpotich fired a second round into Glasco's chest after she again lunged at Alford, he testified. His account varied from Santiago's, who testified the second shot came as Glasco tried to enter a sport-utility vehicle.

Glasco collapsed after the second gunshot and tried to push herself up before falling to the pavement a final time, the officers testified. Police handcuffed her and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics took her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Several of Glasco's relatives sat through the inquest, shaking their heads and sighing in disbelief throughout the daylong hearing. Despite testimony from five police officers and five other witnesses that Glasco had a knife, the relatives weren't convinced she was armed.

Glasco's mother, Betty Fowler, said she would sue the Metropolitan Police Department.

"They're going to let those murderers go back on the job?" Fowler said. "It's going to be criminal when I get through with it. I'm going to get a lawyer."

Share & Save

Leave Your Comment	15 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.
Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. MonkeysWithTools wrote on August 27, 2007 01:04 PM: What a world, they should drug test the whole family. This is especially true for any family member that wants custody of the child to enhance their welfare income. sick & tired wrote on August 25, 2007 01:38 AM: The family will keep her memory alive long enough for them to find out they won't be getting any money in the end. Sounds like the government should do a investigation on the family's cover up of her drug usage and how she was able to afford PCP. Anyone want to deny that she was on the train ride of welfare/food stamp? How many other family members are getting the same? She was a product of her environment. I want to find that long line where they are giving out the handbooks on How To Suck The Government Dry And Beat The System. I have no sympathy for the family. Thank you Metro for doing a tough job and protecting the rest of the community. vicky wrote on August 24, 2007 11:36 PM: I again commend the officers for trying to diffuse a situation that was destined for a bad outcome. Metro gets a bad rap no matter what they do. While I feel for the family for their loss, suing Metro does nothing but show they are out for a buck. I'm sure there were plenty of people telling them Metro is wrong and they can sue and win big. I'm sure the local ACLU will be all over this. First, the family claims she has mental problems as quoted in an earlier RJ article. If so, where were they when a child was put in danger? The earlier article also said she was pregnant. Now we find out she was on PCP. Great! Glad the family was watching out for her and the child she put in danger. Go ahead and sue Metro, because this is one of the few cases where they used every non-evasive option until they were left with no alternative. This is actually pretty solid that Metro followed the right course of action. She was a threat to the public, her child and herself. Maybe the family should be accountable. Who was watching out for her welfare and their grandchild's welfare? Maybe they should judge themselves with the same heavy hand they are judging Metro with. Kudos to all the fellow readers that have banded together for Metro. I'm glad there are a lot of us out there that praise the job they do because they don't get the appreciation they deserve for putting their lives on the line for us everyday. dawn martin wrote on August 24, 2007 08:27 PM: It is most likely that the family members of the deceased wouldn"t believe she was armed even if they saw her armed, dangerous, and wigged out on pcp. Family is all this lady has left of a voice. They are probably too proud to listen to facts and reason.It is too bad the Police Officers had to be detained from their work so they could be at the hearing. Police saved lives by taking down this female crazy monster. Normal people don't take a knife into a restraunt.Sane people would fear the authority of the police and do as they're told.I feel sorry for the child. Forever he will be reminded of his mother's fatality on MLK in Las Vegas. What's worse is that he will grow up hearing half of the facts because the family will put their own spin on the subject. Hopefully the child won't grow up to be just as messed up or worse. Who in their right mind even asks for pcp? Let alone purchase or trade for it. Some one being that doped up can't hear the Lord's voice or listen to reason. I am glad I was in my home when this took place and not a witness to it. If this Lady had been able to get in a car, she could have killed them and tried to drive through traffic. I am surprised that it took all of those warnings before she was shot. The police showed her mercy. Some times people don't care what happens to them or their offspring or anyone else.This Lady monster was no exception. Hooray for the North Las Vegas Police Department.Thank you for keeping the trash off the streets.Thank you for the lives you have saved. My sympathy for the child, and relatives. God Bless. VJ wrote on August 24, 2007 05:17 PM: ONCE AGAIN METRO WINS OUT ON TAKING ANOTHER PIECE OF TRASH OFF THE STREET. KUDOS TO THE OFFICERS AND I AM GLAD THAT THEY FOUND THE SHOOTING OF THE ANIMAL JUSTIFIED.. WHAT WAS A 25 YEAR OLD WOMAN DOING WITH A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL.. AS STATED IN THE ABOVE ARTICLE? AS FOR THE PARENTS OF THE DRUG ADDICTED IDIOT..HOW CAN YOU SUE THE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR ENDING THE LIFE OF A WELFARE SUCKING, DRUG ADDICTED, MAGGOT WHO WOULD BE LIVING OFF THE STATE/GOVERNMENT AND MOST LIKELY CONTINUE TO POP OUT KIDS.. YOU SHOULD HAND THOSE OFFICERS A MEDAL OF VALOR, FOR KILLING HER.. ONCE AGAIN WAY TO GO METRO OFFICERS.. Kim wrote on August 24, 2007 02:52 PM: The family shook their heads in disbelief? And they plan on suing? ..greedy greedy greedy... Apparently PCP use must be ok in that family. The family should be thankful that she didn't harm her son, or a bystander. Then THE FAMILY would be the one's getting sued..... Kim wrote on August 24, 2007 02:52 PM: The family shook their heads in disbelief? And they plan on suing? ..greedy greedy greedy... Apparently PCP use must be ok in that family. The family should be thankful that she didn't harm her son, or a bystander. Then THE FAMILY would be the one's getting sued..... Doug W wrote on August 24, 2007 02:28 PM: Too bad all around. I know one of the officers and she'll have to live with this forever. Part of the job and she'll be OK, especially with everything said and done. The war on drugs continues until the is no longer an appetite in this country. joe wrote on August 24, 2007 01:33 PM: What part of 'She got hit with tasers, shotgun beanbags, and pepper spray and just laughed' don't the family members NOT get?! The mother is either still so emotional distraught over her daughter's death she can't think straight or she's just plain greedy. Doug W wrote on August 24, 2007 11:10 AM: The Metro Officers went well out of their way to "soften" the situation. They exhausted all means to subdue the violent offender who posed a threat to all in the area. Witnesses from all walks of the neighborhood stated what happened, plain and simple. Family members who, even if they were there and watched, would doubt the truth. Now, I only hope the LVMPD won't settle this years from now with "Judicial Economy" just to get the family off their ass. Read All Comments