Cowboys help Las Vegas police nab carjacking suspect

Cowboy Cayden Cox of Arroyo Grande, California, said he was participating in a team roping competition at The Horseman’s Park, 5800 E. Flamingo Road, when he noticed a Las Vegas police helicopter flying in the sky. Then, as he sat on his horse preparing to rope some calves, he saw a man jump a nearby fence and start running.

“I look over to my right, and he’s jumping over these 8-foot tall panels where the horses are,” Cox said.

Cox recognized that the man was fleeing from the police like a calf might flee from a cowboy. He grabbed his rope and prepared to lasso the suspect, but before he could, a group of cowboys surrounded the man. The suspect raised his hands and went to the ground before police took him into custody.

“I was hesitant to rope him, but that was my goal if he kept running. … I would have made sure I stuck it on him,” Cox said.

A video posted on Facebook by cowboy Colton Payne showed the man being handcuffed as a female onlooker hollered “Yeeee haw!” A cowboy yelled “wooohooo,” and someone said, “He picked the wrong place!”

“We get that on the news, boys,” someone is heard saying.

Videos of the incident have gone viral with thousands of shares on social media.

“It’s really blowing up,” Cox said.

Police said they arrested three carjacking suspects after they crashed a stolen vehicle into a horse trailer at Flamingo and Stephanie Street. No one was seriously injured, according to police.

Cox, meanwhile, has been amazed at the attention the incident has received.

“Calls, text messages, it’s all blowing up,” Cox said, adding that at the time, “I thought it wasn’t a big deal.”

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.