Woman accused of pushing man off bus now charged with car theft
A woman accused of pushing a 74-year-old man off a Las Vegas bus must face a jury on separate allegations that she stole a rental car while out on bail, a judge decided Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Cadesha Bishop, who is awaiting trial on murder and other charges in the man’s death, rented a 2020 Chevrolet Impala from Enterprise in July and never returned it after the rental agreement ended.
Attorneys for Bishop said she submitted a voluntary statement to a Metropolitan Police Department officer and attempted to file a stolen vehicle questionnaire.
“There’s no crime because the rental agreement was extended,” defense attorney Michael Castillo argued. “It was ratified based on modified terms. Essentially, what you have here is a civil, contractual matter.”
But Deputy District Attorney Madilyn Cole said Bishop made no payments to the rental company for more than a month before Enterprise reported the car stolen and police recovered it.
“She tells lie after lie after lie,” Cole said. “She took the car and didn’t hold up her end of the bargain.”
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro Tem William Jansen decided that prosecutors had enough evidence to present to a jury charges of grand larceny of a motor vehicle, embezzlement and theft.
In May 2019, Bishop was arrested on a murder charge after Serge Fournier, a man Bishop is accused of pushing off a Regional Transportation Commission bus, died from complications of the injuries he suffered in the fall.
Police and prosecutors have said that Fournier asked Bishop to “be nicer to the other passengers” before she pushed him.
Bishop faces one count each of murder, abuse of an older/vulnerable person resulting in death, and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm of a victim 60 or older.
Fournier died about a month after the March 21, 2019, confrontation from complications he suffered after hitting the concrete, according to testimony from a forensic pathologist. The confrontation occurred near Fremont and 13th streets.
The man’s family told detectives that he died on April 23 of that year. The Clark County coroner’s office determined that he died from complications of blunt force torso injuries, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Bishop remains free on $100,000 bail.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.