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Father mourns son's death
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Anthony Jones
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John Leroy Jones said his son had paid his debt to society and was on his way to living a "moral" life.
Anthony Jones, 44, spent most of his adult life in prison, beginning with a sexual assault conviction in 1982 when he was 16. And he had several other offenses since then. Gaining his freedom earlier this year had granted him clarity, his father said.
"He recently told me, 'Dada, I'd like to get a wife, but not right now. I'd like to get my life together first,' " John Jones recalled.
It grieves him that his son will never have that chance.
Anthony Jones died early Saturday after a confrontation with Las Vegas police. It began with a routine traffic stop less than a mile from his home and ended in a struggle with officers who used a Taser to subdue him.
Police said the confrontation began when Jones' car was pulled over about 1 a.m. in the 1000 block of West Lake Mead Boulevard, near Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Police said Jones was speaking to an officer at the front of a patrol vehicle when he fled north across Lake Mead. He jumped over a wall and into the backyard of an abandoned house on the 1000 block of Hart Avenue, about two-tenths of a mile from where his car had been stopped.
Police said officers went after Jones and tried to take him into custody, but he aggressively resisted them. The officers then used a Taser "several times," according to Sgt. John Sheahan. It's unknown exactly how many shots hit Jones.
Jones was taken into custody but soon appeared to be in medical distress. The officers rendered aid and called for medical help. He was pronounced dead at Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Police did not say how many officers were involved. The officers have been placed on routine paid leave. Although their names should have been released 48 hours after the incident, they were not identified Monday.
John Jones, 71, an ordained minister at Portals To Glory Church of God in Christ, doesn't buy the police account of his son's death.
Jones said his son had been working steadily as a salesman of computer parts. He recently had been promoted. His son was in frequent contact with his parole officer and lived for the weekends when he could take his nieces and nephews out for ice cream.
"He had turned his life around," John Jones said. "He had no reason to run."
The minister's son was no stranger to law enforcement.
After his sexual assault conviction, he received a life sentence but was paroled in 1997 after serving almost 15 years, according to prison records. A probation violation soon cost Jones his freedom.
That would be a continuing theme for Jones, who was granted parole, violated probation and returned to prison at least six times between 1997 and June 2010, when he was paroled a seventh time.
According to police, Jones had been arrested several times since 1998.
He was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender, failure of an ex-felon to notify authorities of a change of address, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and various vehicle registration offenses.
Police did not say whether Jones was in violation of his parole when he fled from officers Saturday.
John Jones acknowledged his son's criminal history, but said the past should remain in the past.
"I ain't going to say my son was the best," he said. "But he was good his last days. He loved people."
Jones, a soft-spoken man whose voice rose when speaking of Anthony's death, said that on Saturday his son left the apartment between 11 and 11:30 p.m.
Jones assumed his son had gone to visit a woman he knew.
Anthony Jones was driving his 1993 Lexus when he was pulled over. John Jones couldn't recall whether police told him why his son had been stopped. The father said he just went blank when investigators and representatives from the Clark County coroner's office told him what happened.
"When they said he was dead, everything just went," Jones said with a deep sigh. "You don't know how it feels until it happens to you."
As Jones spoke about his son's death Monday, a representative of the Nation of Islam knocked on his door to offer condolences. The representative, who did not want to be named, told Jones he could put him in touch with the NAACP.
John Jones said one of his sons was told by a police investigator that the possible reason for the traffic stop was a broken vehicle light.
Taser use by local police agencies has been controversial. Several suspects have died in recent years after Tasers were used on them.
A Taser delivers 50,000 volts of electricity, which incapacitates the body.
A 2008 study by Amnesty International concluded that Las Vegas led U.S. cities in deaths involving law enforcement use of Tasers. The study found that between June 2001 and August 2008, seven people died after Tasers were used on them. That figure topped Phoenix, where five deaths occurred in the same time period.
The study said six of the seven deaths in Las Vegas followed Taser use by the Metropolitan Police Department, which began using them in July 2004.
Maggie McLetchie, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said Tasers should be classified as a lethal weapon. Currently, departments consider Taser use "nonlethal force," she said.
"The original use of a Taser was to provide a nonlethal, safe alternative to a gun," she said. "In reality, it turned out to be very lethal and very dangerous."
McLetchie said that police sometimes interact with suspects with medical conditions and often interact with drug users as part of their job.
"By that definition, it makes it clear that in certain types of people, it does cause death," she said of Tasers.
McLetchie said the classification of a Taser as nonlethal allows officers opportunity to use the weapon when it shouldn't be used.
Combined with the high rate of officer-involved shootings, McLetchie said, more community involvement and a broader review system must be implemented with such incidents. The coroner's inquest has proven to be too limited, she said.
"We need to get to the bottom of why we're the leader in Taser deaths and why officer-involved homicide rates are so high in Clark County," she said.
John Jones agreed. He said too many young people are dying at the hands of police. He also said that he feels bad for the officers who confronted his son on Saturday.
"Police will have to stand before God for what they've done," he said.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@review journal.com or 702-383-4638. Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.
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bghs,I wish all things in life were as black and white as in your world. I said "If I saw and officer doing wrong" not If I saw an officer committing a crime. Big difference. I see minor policy violations nearly every day, and they are not violations of the law, and therefore arrestable.
I have a thing called "discretion" that I use daily, with citizens and officers alike. I don't arrest everyone for speeding, nor does everyone get a ticket. I could easily arrest 15-20 citizens a day for violations of the law, but we as LEO's take the "totality of circumstances" into account when we do our jobs. Do I use my discretion for all crimes, no. That said, I appearantly am a little less emotional than you when it comes to dealing with violations.
When did you "demand action?" Have you gone to city hall and demanded to see the Sheriff" Have you contacted the DOJ? The AG? The ACLU or NAACP? Have you gone to the County Commission and demanded action?
For the investigation involving the dismissal of a cop, there are many steps you have to follow. If you screw up the investigation or skip certain steps, the fired officer can actually sue to get his job back, get compensation for being wrongfully fired, and continue to work the same job, and the entire investigation/evidence would now be inadmissable in any other investigation or charges. My advice, be patient, and let the system work.
@DevilDog...I have demanded action. However, Dougie is the head liar in charge. And yes, you as LE do enforce laws. All the laws. If you see a cop doing wrong in the field you counsel him? Why not arrest him? Would you counel a drunk driver, a rapist, a child killer? No YOU ARE OBLIGATED to enforce the laws of this state, not to counsel. And if your report is not dealt with, do you ,as a witness to crime, do you contact the State AG's office, the DOJ? No you just say, oh well not my problem. And how much time does it take to determine that Yant signed the warrant app and the defendant was out of the country. The judge had enough evidence to dismiss the charges. They spend less time investigating murders.
bghs, I guess we don't live in a world that is all sunshine and roses like you do. We (the rank and file cops) don't make policy, nor do we enforce it. If I see an officer doing wrong in the field, sure I either counsel him or report him depending on the circumstances. But to condemn EVERY OFFICER that works for a department just on the basis of their employment is (to use your other comparison) Nazi-ish. You are acting just like a modern day Hitler, condeming an entire pool of people because you don't like the way one or two conduct business. to quote you "Dishonesty that that every cop should demand daily be dealt with. Dishonesty that is condoned every time you slip on your colors."
Just because one guy lies under oath (who btw I believe is still under investigation) and you continue to vilify all of Metro? I really feel sorry for you, hiding behind your keyboard with all this hatred...If you were that passionate, why don't you call the Sheriff and DEMAND ACTION? Stand up and try to change things, not spout drivel from your lair.
I am not talking about Cole. I guess I am just a bit more informed than you. That is sad, the week before the Cole inquest a judge threw out one of Yant's cases after he learned that even though Yant swore under oath to witnessing a drug deal by the defendant, the defendant was in the BAHAMAS for the entire month in question. That is not sloppy paperwork. That is outright dishonesty. Dishonesty that that every cop should demand daily be dealt with. Dishonesty that is condoned every time you slip on your colors.
bghs, Yant may have lied about other things, but at the inquest and in the papers it was stated that he and other officers on several occasions had observed and TAPED Cole selling drus from his apartment to both officers and informants. I was at the inquest and sat through the testimony, were you?
DevilDog....You did it again. Yant LIED ABOUT SEEING A DRUG DEAL THAT NEVER HAPPENED. That is not sloppy paperwork. And to diminish perjury as such is tantamount to defending him. And as long as Metro employs him they, and everyone who chooses to wear that uniform are condoning it.
And CRIMINALSSUCK...THE ACLU recently defended a METRO OFFICER who was being discriminated against by Gillepsie and his anti-semitic gang. Still think they only represent bad guys?
"Your defense of a man who lies under oath shows that you care nothing about law and order"
Whoa there big guy behind his keyboard (bghs) where did I ever say that I defended Yant in ANY WAY??? I said he did sloppy work, and asked "And please don't lump all officers in with guys like Yant." How is this defending him? I may have said that an officer that failed to wear his seat belt should not have died, but I NEVER defended an officer that provided crappy paperwok to a judge to get a warrant!
I also said that the rank and file officers that you constantly complain about are not the officer that can terminate someones employment, that comes from much higher up in the chain of command.
@kkk!!!killa!!!...... way to go defend a convicted rapist... You stated " Your acting like you have never done anything in your life that you wish you could take back"...... oh i am pretty sure no one on this blog is a convicted rapist.... yes i stole a candy bar or two when i was 12... dont think that rises to the level of rape..... but keep defending this guy... bet the woman he raped is glad he got tazed and probably wishes he was dead a long time ago..
Concerned .Citizen very good point. im with you 100%
criminals.suck frist great name. very good point