Police used K9, sedation to arrest former Nevada lawmaker
Steven Brooks, the former Nevada assemblyman who was arrested last week and faces charges of driving under the influence and felony assault, was uncooperative with officers, who used a police dog to detain him and ended up sedating him, according to a report released Monday.
Brooks was arrested Thursday after a vehicle pursuit during which he crashed his car, according to police and Clark County Detention Center records. He appeared in Justice Court on Friday, and his attorney requested that he be evaluated for competency.
Police started pursuing Brooks, who was driving a 2001 GMC Yukon, after he threatened an officer and asked police to “shoot it out,” according to the report, provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal by Las Vegas Justice Court.
Police said Brooks had a silver object in his hand and officers thought he was armed. The report does not say what the object turned out to be. It also does not include details of the alleged assault.
It is unclear in the report how the chase ended, but police said Brooks was driving about 70 mph in a 25 mph zone and running red lights and stop signs. At one point he crashed, then kept driving, the report said.
Officers could not complete field sobriety tests and it was difficult to arrest him, police said. When he got out of the car, he was cursing, “yelling incoherently” and stumbling, police said. “Brooks was uncooperative and required a K9 to get in custody,” according to the report.
Brooks was sedated and had blood taken for a blood test. A judge had to authorize the blood test because he was sedated. The report said a screen was requested for marijuana.
As of Monday morning, Brooks was still in jail. His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Brooks was expelled from the Nevada Legislature in 2013 after he threatened to kill Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, because he was reportedly upset about not being made chair of the Ways and Means Committee. He was the first lawmaker to be expelled. Brooks represented North Las Vegas as a Democrat.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
