Man shot by police ordered out of courtroom after shouting expletives

A man shot by Las Vegas police yelled expletives and was forced out of a courtroom Wednesday morning during his first appearance since being arrested.

Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman raised the bail to $100,000 for Hector Orellana, 26, after ordering him out of the courtroom for shouting expletives while prosecutors presented the police report.

Prosecutor Leah Beverly said Orellana was in a fight with another man on Monday outside Catholic Charities, at 1501 Las Vegas Blvd. North, when a lieutenant approached and told the men to break up the fight.

Beverly, reading from the Metropolitan Police Department report, which had not been made public as of Wednesday afternoon, said Orellana then approached the officer and attempted to kick and punch him.

Metro identified the lieutenant Wednesday as Raul Rodriguez, 47. He has been with the department since 1999 and was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Beverly said Rodriguez shot Orellana in the leg.

Police determined that Orellana’s only weapon was a pen.

“The defendant had every intention of stabbing the officer with the object in his hand, specifically the pen,” Beverly said. “He says, ‘I’m going to stab him in the face because I’d rather f------ die than go back to prison.’”

Beverly said Orellana had committed other crimes in North Carolina and California, but overcrowding in California jails led to his release.

Defense attorney Dan Cho argued that Orellana was transient and that the bail amount would not matter because Orellana could not pay it and would remain in the Clark County Detention Center through the duration of the case.

Goodman, reading from the police report, said Orellana was paranoid and often had hallucinations.

“He’s clearly a danger to the community,” Goodman said. “I wouldn’t want to be a person walking on the street and he decides I’m after him and then something like this happens again.”

Orellana faces charges of assault and battery on a protected person and resisting a public officer. He is scheduled to appear in court again March 30.

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Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.