Wife worries about response to LV police officer husband’s exposure to ricin

Regina Mitchell is an angry, fearful wife.

She's angry at Metro. She's fearful for her husband, James, a veteran police officer with Metro.

James Mitchell was the first police officer to enter a Las Vegas hotel room on Feb. 26, a room where vials of the highly poisonous ricin were found two days later. He's the only officer who entered without protection.

You probably remember the photos of officials entering an Extended Stay America room. The pictures alone sparked fears of terrorism and contamination. Everyone was bundled up in protective gear.

Two days earlier, that wasn't the case. The manager of the hotel at 4270 S. Valley View Blvd. called police when guns were found in a room rented by Roger Von Bergendorff, who had been taken to the hospital Feb. 14. Now we know he had respiratory distress, one of the symptoms of ricin poisoning.

James Mitchell, 53, an officer with Metro for 17 years and the Nevada Highway Patrol for 11, answered the call about 11 p.m.

He declined to be interviewed, but Regina said her husband saw guns and books on how to make poison as well as dog feces on the floor. The manager told him the dog had been coughing up blood, defecating blood and had died.

"At that point, Jim realized there might be poison in the room," she said.

Two officers came to take the guns but didn't enter the room. At 3:30 a.m. the next day, a response team searched the room, and Mitchell was told there were no contaminants found, she said.

Two days later, a man claiming to be a relative brought several vials of ricin to the front desk, saying he found them in the room.

The room was searched again. Mitchell was asked to turn over his patrol car and briefcase for testing. The officers who took the guns were tested. The evidence vault where the guns were taken was tested. The guns, books and police vehicles were tested. The Southwest Area Command Center was tested.

"All tested negative," said Lt. Chris Jones from Metro's health and safety office.

The officers and others involved were told to take urine tests.

However, no one asked her husband to turn over his shoes or the uniform he had worn for three days, Regina said.

"We didn't take the uniform. I didn't think we needed to," Jones said, because by that time, two days had passed, and Mitchell hadn't shown any symptoms of ricin poisoning.

Mitchell threw his shoes out Feb. 29 and later, unasked, bagged his uniform and turned it in to the department, Regina said.

She said her husband did not see the vials that were later turned in. So the pivotal unanswered question is: Was the ricin in the room when Mitchell first searched?

Mitchell's urine tests between Feb. 28 and March 11 show traces of ricinine, a marker for the presence of ricin. But ricin, a derivative of castor beans, is also found in other products, including creams and wallboard.

His urine reports show his ricinine levels dropping. In every test, health officials concluded his exposure was "most compatible with background exposure to castor bean products."

Police and the health officials have told Mitchell not to worry.

"We're confident none of our employees have been exposed to ricin," said Jones, who insisted everything was handled correctly.

On March 7, Regina said, her husband was wheezing, coughing and felt tightness in his chest. It was past the three- to five-day window when death or symptoms would be expected. Jones again told them not to worry.

On March 10, she approached a television station, contending police and health officials were minimizing her husband's exposure.

Calls of concern to their home began within the hour. A public information officer called. Sheriff Doug Gillespie called. A captain and a lieutenant called.

Jones, who was in frequent contact with Mitchell, said it was a coincidence that Gillespie would call after Regina went to the news media.

Mitchell still coughs and feels tightness in his chest.

Maybe this is all about fear of the unknown. But when lethal poisons are found, fear can be consuming.

Ricin is no boogeyman in the closet.

The Mitchells can't stop worrying.

Do you blame them?

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.