24-minute chase preceded fatal police shooting in North Las Vegas

The North Las Vegas Police Department’s first officer-involved shooting of the year unfolded Thursday after a 24-minute pursuit that spanned several miles in the northwestern portion of the city, footage released Tuesday revealed.

It culminated in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy near Craig Road and Allen Lane, where the man behind the wheel of the stolen Toyota Corolla — identified last week as 26-year-old Jamarri Daiwon Tarver — rammed into two patrol vehicles, prompting two officers to fire a total of 24 rounds at the suspect.

Tarver, a felon who was released from a state prison in 2018, died in the parking lot of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. The officers, Aaron Patty, 39, and Phillip Schmidt, 43, have been placed a routine paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting.

At a press conference Tuesday, North Las Vegas police Chief Pamela Ojeda released footage of the pursuit and the shooting, captured by the two officers’ body cameras and the Metropolitan Police Department’s air unit, which assisted North Las Vegas police during the chase.

Department policy for North Las Vegas police allows vehicle pursuits, Ojeda said. A police watch commander monitors pursuits as they unfold and determines whether officers should continue pursuing a suspect, she said.

At 12:34 a.m. Thursday, officers conducting “routine patrol” in the area of Alexander Road and Revere Street ran a plate for a red Toyota Corolla, which revealed that the car had been stolen in Las Vegas. The officers tried to pull over the car, but while they waited for backup, the Toyota took off.

Footage from Metro’s helicopter showed the “blacked out” Toyota, its headlights and brake lights turned off, speeding through the city. The roads were mostly clear at the time of the pursuit, the footage showed.

At least twice during the chase, according to Ojeda, Tarver drove on the wrong side of the road, traveling upward of 90 mph.

Officers eventually set up road spikes at Craig and Allen, near the CVS pharmacy where the shooting occurred.

“That’s possibly why the suspect stopped and turned into the lot, to avoid the spikes,” Ojeda said.

After entering the parking lot at 12:58 a.m., Tarver rammed into a police vehicle, the video showed, at which point another patrol car — driven by Patty, with Schmidt in the front passenger seat — pulled forward toward the stolen Toyota.

The Toyota stopped briefly, but as Patty and Schmidt stepped out of their patrol car, their guns drawn, Tarver reversed toward the officers, pinning Schmidt between the vehicle and the car door.

That’s when Patty fired 14 rounds, and Tarver 10 rounds, according to Ojeda.

It wasn’t known Tuesday how many times the suspect was hit. Ojeda said she was still waiting on a report from the coroner’s office.

Had Tarver survived, Ojeda said, he would have been arrested on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle, evading a police officer and obstructing a police officer.

Between 2012 and 2018, Tarver served time for a variety of crimes, ranging from battery to commit robbery and coercion with force to first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault, records show.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.