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Officer in Costco shooting faces gun charge
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John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas police officer Thomas Mendiola testifies Sept. 28 during the Clark County Coroner's inquest of the shooting death of Erik Scott. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 1, 2011 | 4:15 p.m.
Thomas Mendiola, one of the Las Vegas police officers who shot and killed Erik Scott outside the Summerlin Costco last year, has been charged in a criminal complaint with unlawfully giving a handgun to a two-time felon.
The district attorney's office filed the felony complaint late last week against Mendiola, who has been with the Metropolitan Police Department since March 2009.
Mendiola, 23, who is assigned to the Patrol Division's Convention Center Area Command, has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case.
He has been summoned to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on Feb. 24 on the weapons charge, which draws a maximum 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
In September, a coroner's inquest found that Mendiola and two other officers were justified in Scott's July 10 shooting, but Scott's family later sued the officers and the department in federal court.
Mendiola gave the .22-caliber Ruger handgun to Robert Justice, who has two theft convictions in Arizona, sometime between July 15 and Aug. 19, after the Costco shooting, according to a copy of the criminal complaint.
Justice, 45, has been charged and is cooperating with police in an unrelated case involving the alleged scheme to kill Las Vegas attorney Nancy Quon. Justice's co-defendant in that case is Quon's live-in boyfriend, former Las Vegas police officer William Ronald Webb, who is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $400,000 bail.
"This informant has provided us substantial assistance in a number of investigations leading to this case," District Attorney David Roger said late Monday. "He will continue to play an integral role in these cases as they move through the criminal justice system."
Justice is to be arraigned in the Quon case Thursday before District Judge Jackie Glass.
Police learned about the relationship between Justice and Mendiola during an undercover investigation that targeted Justice last summer, a police report said.
Justice ended up selling the Ruger handgun and a Dan Wesson .357-caliber revolver to an undercover detective on Sept. 14 for $500, the report said. Neither firearm was registered with authorities in Clark County.
Less than two months later, Justice allegedly conspired with Webb to buy from the same undercover detective 51.4 grams of the club drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) to give to Quon, who police believed planned to kill herself.
Police suspect that Webb and Quon plotted her demise because of an FBI investigation into allegations of fraud within homeowners associations around the valley. She is considered a top target of the investigation.
Quon, 50, a wealthy construction defect lawyer, has told police that she never planned suicide, and she has not been charged in the death plot.
After police arrested Justice in the alleged death scheme in November, he began cooperating with detectives.
On Dec. 28, Justice told detectives that Mendiola gave him the .22-caliber handgun as a gift after Justice performed some mechanical work on the officer's car free of charge.
Justice indicated that he had discussed his criminal record with Mendiola and that the officer knew he was not supposed to possess firearms, the police report said.
Detectives later interviewed Mendiola, who acknowledged giving Justice a "beat up" .22-caliber Ruger.
Mendiola said his aunt had given him the weapon, which he explained "wasn't even working," before she moved out of town, the report said.
At one point, Mendiola told detectives, Justice showed him a ".357 black Python," which Mendiola described as a "big gun" with "barrels that screw on and off."
According to the report, Mendiola said he told Justice, "Dude, you're not supposed to have that, but you already know that."
Justice replied, "Yeah, no one will know."
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviwjournal.com or 702-380-8135 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.
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I guess after you gun down an innocent person yourself, it's not a big deal to knowingly sell illegally sell guns to convicted felons....
Mendiola will serve community service at the worst. The courts and the cops are one big happy family, and you're not in their club.
Be wary of ex-cons trying to "work out a deal"......Justice should have been in jail awaiting trial along with Webb----even the DA claims that they were putting Justice to work....? Cons and ex-cons will do ANYTHING to get a deal, specially if they can do something before the case gets to court. Let the system do it's work and we will see an outcome. You will the name Robert Justice again !
Mendiola .....should save the taxpayer money in this case. It been made clear he has admitted to giving the gun to Justice...case close..and off to SDCC for this murdering P.O.S The under cover detective should be promoted to sheriff. This is the kind of police we need. Out with Gillespie folks.
Devil Dog, What ?you forget what you have said in the past? When questioning why Yant (who committed perjury over a year ago) hadn't been death with, as well as officers who have lied in order to enact vengeful retribution and have two innocent tourists arrested (costing taxpayers nearly $1 mil. BTY.) you said to be patient and wait. Now you have to lie about me. I have never once disagreed with the finding of the Scott inquest. You see I realize everything is not that simple. I can find the same shooting both legally justifiable and irresponsible and dangerous. Simply because one can do something, it doesn't mean they should. I have both praised officers who act responsibly and condemned the ones I feel have acted recklessly. And I have always shouted against the departments history of deceit and it's inability not to eliminate the dirty cops in its ranks. You, however, seem to excuse such behavior. Trust me, I fully understand what the department is up against. That doesn't make it right. If an officer can lie under oath, have innocent people arrested and violate the public's trust, any system that protects them needs to be changed. Do you disagree. What exactly does warrant an officer losing their badge?
" Devil Dog asks us to wait because he counts on the public's short memory."
bghs, when did I ever say this?
I stated "Remember, innocent until proven guilty....That said, if found guilty, he should be sent to prison to languish with the type of folks that he was giving firearms to."
Where is the "wait?"
I stand by me statement, that if found guilty, like any other citizen, he has a right to a fair trial, then he should be sent to jail.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with the citizens that found the Scott shooting justified, but I can see you are not a reasonable person, that believes that a person who has a gun pointed at them has a right to shoot the guy pointing the gun. Get over it already!
You obviously have NO CLUE, how the investigation/suspension/termination of police officers happens.
If not done properly, according to the law, contract, and civil rules, the terminated cop could sue the city/county, get a huge settlement, and even get their job back. But please keep complaining, hopefully all these guys will get fired, sue the city/county, beat the new governor to what is left of the operating funds, bankrupt the city/county and go back to work.
WikiLeaks: FBI hunts the/119 sept anaheim staduim [bush gang] that got away
The FBI has launched a manhunt for a previously unknown team of men suspected to be part of the 9/11 attacks, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.[ did they investigate eapen @cypress college, ca.]
Every profession has bad employees. The police are no different, except the media publicizes their bad decisions and the public wants to crucify them. This officer needs to be fired and convicted, but the overwhelming majority of the cops are good hard working people. "A couple bad apples spoiles the bunch". Give some support to the good guys for a change and address the few that screw up as exceptions.
Hey DougieG, can you tell me that bedtime story about Metro's Transparency? You know the one that starts with Officer James Manor's suicidal run down Flamingo at over 100 Mph. I loved that story, especially the part where Officer Bryan Yant is caught lying on search warrant applications and committing perjury in court. Then one day he was searching for magic berries and finds himself alone in the potty with a cowering drug addict. He was so scared he killed him that man, right Uncle Dougie? That was right before the the the three bears, led by the gian The Moesmallow Man, waited outside the Costco and shot that a man so high he could barely walk on his own. They did that to make me safe, right uncle Dougie?The one of the gave his guns to convicted felons. I fell asleep at the part where the two Metro cops get lost in the worm-hole and ended up in the evil KINGman's realm.Uncle Dougie, tell me how it ends. Do they all get parades and a pension. I hope so Uncle Dougie, they are heroes.
@DLW I was just being funny. We ALL know what is written in the Constitution and what is upheld is usually different. KAYLOVE obviously has no clue at what sarcasm is. I do not believe in coincidence so whatever this cop gets..... he gets. Kinda like OJ. A racist got him an acquittal but see where he is now. Stupid is as stupid does. Life is like a box of chocolates.......leave it in the car during the summer in Vegas and you have liquid chocolate. hahahaha