Las Vegas police officer dies by suicide after arrest

A Las Vegas police officer arrested on suspicion of stalking his ex-wife and trying to break into her parents’ house died by suicide after he was released from a Henderson jail, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jake Freeman was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. Sunday and his death was listed as a suicide, the coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday morning in emails.

Henderson police arrested Freeman, 30, after his ex-wife called police at about 2:50 a.m. on New Year’s Eve to report that Freeman was outside banging on the front door and window of her parents’ house and asking her to come outside.

Freeman’s ex-wife had moved back in with her parents in late October after telling Freeman she had tired of his behavior — which included verbal abuse, she told police — and wanted a divorce, the report said.

The Sunday night incident, which happened three days after Freeman and his ex were divorced, came amid months’ worth of stalking behavior from Freeman, who had ignored her requests to not contact her, police said.

Instead of respecting her wishes, the report alleged, Freeman’s actions had caused his ex-wife to feel “terrorized, frightened, intimidated, harassed and fearful for her immediate safety and the immediate safety of her family.”

On Sunday, Freeman’s ex-wife was so frightened and upset when she had called police, according to the arrest report, that she had locked herself in a closet.

The ex-wife told Henderson police about several incidents involving Freeman, including one after a Dec. 2 Christmas party at another Metro police officer’s house, which both attended.

After she left the party, Freeman followed his ex-wife in his truck, calling her to ask her to stop so he could say something to her, the report said.

After she pulled over, Freeman walked up to the driver’s side door, brandished his Glock 22 handgun, and dropped it in her lap.

Early Sunday morning, after officers found Freeman outside her parents’ home, he told them that he believed his ex-wife was seeing one of his friends from work, and that he had wanted to see if he could catch them together.

He said he had driven past the house, the report stated, saw his friend’s truck parked nearby, texted both their phones, then knocked on the door and window after neither of them had responded to the texts.

“The harassment only stopped once HPD officers arrived on the scene,” the arrest report said.

Freeman was arrested on felony charges of aggravated stalking, attempted home invasion and destroying or injuring the real property of another early Sunday morning.

Freeman was booked into the Henderson Detention Center at 4:38 a.m. Sunday and released on bail at 5 p.m., police said.

According to the coroner’s office, the suicide occurred at a residence.

A Henderson police spokesperson said in an email that Henderson police responded at about 6:39 p.m. Sunday to the 3000 block of Solento Lane in reference to a death investigation.

Employed with Metro since 2017, Freeman had been assigned to the community policing division of Metro’s Summerlin Area Command, Metro said in a press released Sunday.

If you are thinking about suicide, or are worried about a loved one or friend, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.