Second officer in crash named - News

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Oct. 10, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Second officer in crash named

Comrade killed in accident recalled

By LAWRENCE MOWER and MIKE BLASKY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

SERVICES PLANNED

Visitation for Las Vegas officer Milburn "Milli" Beitel will be from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown, 1325 N. Main St., followed by a short prayer vigil.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church, 1811 Pueblo Vista Dr. Burial will immediately follow at Palm Mortuary-Green Valley, 7600 S. Eastern Ave.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

David Nesheiwat
Las Vegas police officer hurt in crash upgraded to serious condition at UMC

As early as his days at Silverado High School, friends were sure Milburn "Millie" Beitel was destined for police work.

Former classmate Day Gang, who remained close friends with Beitel after school, remembers teasing her shaved and shined companion about his uncanny resemblance to the school's on-site officer.

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"Milburn had always had a shaved head, ever since I knew him. He looked exactly like the bald cop (at school), and we always said he was going to be him," said Gang, 30. "But that was something he liked to hear."

As friends remembered the 30-year-old officer, who was killed in a Wednesday night crash, the condition of his injured partner was upgraded on Friday, and police said the 25-year-old officer was expected to recover from his injuries.

David Nesheiwat, a three-year veteran of the department, was upgraded to serious condition at University Medical Center.

The 2002 Chaparral High School graduate was working with Beitel in the department's saturation team, a collection of officers from different sections and area commands that target high-crime areas, usually at night.

In high school, Nesheiwat was a member of the varsity volleyball team that won the state championship. Between 2003 and 2006 he was a student at the College of Southern Nevada.

CSN political science professor Mark Peplowski remembered him fondly.

"David was a very energetic and intelligent young man," he said. "Very inquisitive, and extremely keen on American politics."

Peplowski came to know him during a 2005 trip he and several CSN students took to Washington, D.C., to watch the Senate in action.

Nesheiwat spoke often of wanting to be a police officer. Peplowski said they kept in touch since Nesheiwat joined the force. Just Monday, the two exchanged voice messages.

"David was, and I pray that he still is, going to be a very, very valuable member of our community for years to come," Peplowski said. "He is a credit to Las Vegas and what the police do for Las Vegas."

Since the crash, the mood throughout the department has been "really, really somber," said Michelle Jotz of the Police Protective Association, which represents 2,500 rank-and-file officers.

"It was really a big blow to our officers," she said.

Both Beitel and Nesheiwat had good reputations as officers and were extremely well-liked, she said.

Beitel's death came on the heels of officer James Manor's fatal crash in May and three years after Sgt. Henry Prendes was shot to death in an ambush.

"To have two in five months and three in a few years is overwhelming," Jotz said.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie acknowledged that the deaths have weighed on the minds of many in the department .

What caused the crash is still unknown, and Gillespie on Friday said he did not want to release information before the investigation is complete.

Many basic questions still remained unanswered, such as who was driving, if the crash was caused by officers trying to avoid something in the roadway and whether the officers were wearing seat belts.

"I know the public wants to know. I know the media wants to know," he said.

Gillespie said he would tell the public what caused the accident as soon as the investigation is over. Investigators are developing a speed workup, in which they perform their own calculations as to how fast the car was traveling and what happened during the crash.

The car also contains a "black box" with its own data, but investigators are not given access to the box's contents until the speed workup is done, Gillespie said. That is routine during investigations, and is done so that the box's contents do not bias the investigators' work, he said.

Investigators have been given as much time as needed to complete their findings.

On Friday, a memorial site at the scene of the crash grew as friends and members of the department remembered Beitel, who, like Nesheiwat, was a local graduate who desired to become a police officer.

Gang said Beitel joined the Marine Corps after graduation, where he gained an almost obsessive compulsion with exercise.

Upon his return, police work was a natural fit for him.

"I have several police officer friends, but Milburn was almost on another level," she said. "He loved being a cop more than anyone."

But on his off-time, Beitel was always willing to support his friends in their own endeavors, Gang said.

He was even supposed to take a few days off this weekend to watch Gang race off-road vehicles in California. Gang said she will still race.

"I'm out here for him," she said.

Between his time spent at the gym, at work, with friends and with his dog, Winston, Beitel was always busy, she said.

He was a positive, honest, loving person, she said, and wasn't one to dwell on the negatives of life.

He wasn't chasing a dream, he was living it, she said.

"I really, truly think he lived his life the way he wanted to every day," she said. "He told us all the time he was so happy to wake up in the morning and go to work."

A close friend in the Police Department, who preferred anonymity, said she met Beitel a year and a half ago and he immediately made an impression.

"When he came into our briefing room, he was always the loudest person you ever heard. He always had something quick-witted to say. Always a smile," the friend said.

He took his job very seriously, she said. He was the type who'd always come home disappointed if he didn't make an arrest.

"He was disappointed if he didn't catch a bad guy, because the streets weren't safer," she said.

Away from work, she said Beitel took his personal life as seriously as his job.

If a friend was in a pinch, stuck at a bar after a few too many drinks, or just in need of an extra hand on moving day, he would drop his own activities immediately, no matter what plans he had.

Beitel had about five tattoos on various parts of his body, including one that signified his time in the Marine Corps, she said.

But the one she remembered most, she said, was a pair of wings he'd had tattooed on his back and shoulders.

"Ironically, he pretty much is an angel now," she said.

Review-Journal writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.

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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. Harry C wrote on October 10, 2009 11:02 PM: Hey Victim of Metro Too bad they didnt finish you off. Oh poor you, you were a scumbag before and you still are. Indifferent wrote on October 10, 2009 08:05 PM: There are the cop haters and the cop lovers and those of us in between. Seems like if you are not on the cop worshiping bandwagon you are automatically cast as a cop hater by the cop loving cheerleaders. If you listen to some of these people they would have you believe that Metro has the right to blow your head off in any situation where the officers cannot immediately assess the situation as safe for them. It's as if they never even heard of the Fourteenth Amendment. These people scare me more than any criminal ever could. They would seemingly give up their civil rights and lay down like sheep for the government, never questioning any law enforcement action no matter how suspicious it may seem. I for one believe a cynical curiosity to their more questionable actions is appropriate; and it is our right, our obligation, as tax paying citizens to find the truth. The government works for the people, not the other way around. I realize, as do others that are pigeon holed as cop haters, that a Police force is a necessary component of civilized society but there must be a balance. Police are not above the law and they ultimately answer to the people. Metro and their fan club seem to have forgotten this. tc wrote on October 10, 2009 04:25 PM: i haved lived in this town for 45 years so i think i have a right to say something about all of this. first of all when i call a police officer for help i DO expect him to help me that is his job.he signed up for that he was NOT drafted. i dont care what you do for a living you or your job does not make you any different from me at the end of the day. if my loved one was in a car accident could they get a police escort to the hospital? if i shot a UNARMED murder suspect (suspect not conviced)in the back while running away in handcuffs can i go home at the end of the day? all im saying is lead by example.you do a great job and serve about 3 million people a a day but your actions sometime come into question.i have 3 sons 2 of them are in the service one of which just returned from iraq.they serve about 307 million people talk about real heros.all of them.oh one more thing if you are a motorcycle cop going north on the 15 at rush hour doing about 35 mph with your flashers on in the break down lane so you can go to a "call" it does not look good to those of us waiting in traffic.ENFORCE THE LAW DONT RISE ABOVE IT!!!!!!! mz morgan wrote on October 10, 2009 04:18 PM: they are human to the law should go for the officers also they are breaking the law bigg tyme thats why we have others drive the way they do is cause they see the officers drive wreckless they need to punish them also. thats why i moved away they that town is trash not a place to raise your kids............ Marc A wrote on October 10, 2009 03:58 PM: Before we go constructing memorials, to these two reckless driving officers, lets get all the facts. Stupidity, does not a hero make. Any life lost is a tragedy, and stupidity makes it all more tragic Gunsmoke wrote on October 10, 2009 03:38 PM: Fast is slow, Smooth is fast! John wrote on October 10, 2009 03:26 PM: Shady, C'mon, that is a rare occurence and the MAJORITY of officers neber fire a shot or are fired upon. I could post links to terrible truck driver deaths if you would like...there are a lot more of them. Also being #5 for denger is still less than HALF the dangerof being a truck driver. In other words, too much glory for half the risk. You and other sheep are still stuck on little boy dreams and fantasy of life when the reality is much different. Learn to think for yourself and quit accepting fantasy as reality. We are all on this ball hurtling through space together: there really is little difference among us. Grow beyond homones and seek enlightenment! shady wrote on October 10, 2009 02:48 PM: Hey John! Do truckers have to deal with this when delivering our gas and milk?? http://www.lvrj.com/news/56743267.html also just a little fact for you when it comes to dangerous jobs. Police Officer for men is #5. Victim of Metro wrote on October 10, 2009 02:34 PM: They need to make the location of the dead officer's grave public so I can eat a lot of fiber, drink a lot of coke, and leave my respect on his tombstone. My dad fought in WWII and came home with half a leg--did they close any streets for him or devote any media coverage? Cops are worshiped as false heroes when in fact they are not worth a cup of my stool. Jason Rowland wrote on October 10, 2009 02:32 PM: I was a classmate of Milburn's at Silverado. Milburn was one of those types of people who had a secure sense of self, who was kind to all and was not afraid to not follow the crowd. He had a goal of serving his country after high school and accomplished that serving in the armed forces. When his duty for his country was served, he came back to the city he loved and became a police officer, serving his city bravely until the events of last wednesday night. As a person who educates others, I always stress to them the fact that "actions speak louder than words", and this was not more evident in Milburn and the way he lived his life. At least as I knew him, he was never going to tell you this, write on a message board about that, he was just going to do it and let the out come do the talking. For all of you that come on here and slam Metro and say all of these nasty and horrible things,I am sad for you. I guess you have an ammendment that gives you that right and you can argue it tell you are done, but there is a thing called class, that alot of you lack. My point is, just like with Officer Prendes and Officer Manor, we lost not only a great community hero, but more, a wonderful son, friend, and person. He did more in 30 years than most in a life time. If some in society would use his life pattern as a template for their life, they will be alot better off. Thank You Milburn, your life was short on years, but HUGE on accomplishment and change. Quality OVER Quanity. God Bless You Milburn Read All Comments