Boulder City police had man in custody a day before deadly confrontation with highway patrol

Less than 24 hours before Javier Munoz was involved in a deadly confrontation with the Nevada Highway Patrol last month, he was in the custody of the Boulder City Police Department.

Then the department released Munoz to a hospital, and a day later, he was fatally shot in Henderson by a Highway Patrol officer as he tried to steal a car.

Boulder City police released scant details about its arrest of Munoz. On Wednesday, the department, through city spokeswoman Sue Manteris, said only that a “male suspect” was arrested Oct. 18.

The department refused to release its report on the incident to a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter, citing an open case. But the reporter was shown the report, which clearly states Munoz was the man arrested that day, by an independent source.

At 7:44 a.m. Oct. 18, Boulder City police responded to a call about a vehicle speeding through a school zone on Adams Boulevard. An officer tried to pull the driver over, but the car didn’t stop. Instead it kept speeding through stop signs and crosswalks. The officer stopped pursuing the vehicle because of public safety.

Boulder City police received another report of reckless driving down Adams Boulevard about 8 a.m.

This time police pursued the car into a desert area near the Boulder City landfill, blocking the car’s route with a patrol car. Munoz got out of the car and ran into the desert away from police. He surrendered to police after running about 100 feet.

The silver Nissan Sentra he was driving had been reported stolen in Arizona. Munoz was facing charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, felony evasion, reckless driving in a school zone and driving under the influence of drugs.

His driving license also had been revoked.

Boulder City police said Munoz had “wide eyes” and a “wild look,” according to the report. Munoz was talking fast and acting erratically. He told police he was on methamphetamine, marijuana, Ecstasy, Spice and other drugs he couldn’t remember.

At one point Munoz screamed at the officers, asking if he was going to die and for officers to kill him, according to the police report.

That is when police brought him to the Boulder City Hospital. A doctor told officers Munoz probably would be hospitalized “for a few days.”

After getting a warrant to search the now-sedated man’s blood, Boulder City police called for a blood technician to draw a sample at 10:42 a.m. and released him to the hospital.

The police report said the hospital planned to transfer the Glendale, Arizona, man to Valley Hospital Medical Center, but it isn’t clear when he was released from the hospital. A Valley spokeswoman declined to comment on the case Wednesday, citing federal patient privacy laws.

The next day, Oct. 19, Munoz was fatally shot by trooper David Dudley after an incident that also began with a stolen car and a police pursuit.

Details surrounding events leading up to the confrontation with the Highway Patrol resemble those in the Boulder City incident.

Las Vegas police officers were called at 7:13 a.m. to a gas station on Fremont Street at Eastern Avenue, where a woman had been injured after her car was stolen.

Troopers began to pursue the car thief when he was seen driving recklessly on U.S. Highway 95 about 10 minutes later. Troopers followed the man on the highway for about 12 miles, from the Las Vegas Boulevard ramp to the Auto Show Drive ramp.

Dudley shot Munoz while he was trying to steal another vehicle. He died the morning after the shooting at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Highway Patrol chief Col. Dennis Osborn briefed the media on the shooting on Oct. 25. There was no mention of a previous incident in Boulder City.

Osborn said the Review-Journal he would have told the media about the incident if he had known about it.

“I was just made aware of it today,” Osborn said Wednesday.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s force investigation team, which was charged with vetting the Highway Patrol shooting, picked up the Boulder City report the day after the briefing.

Osborn declined to comment on the actions of another department, but said from the new information, it appears Munoz might have sought to commit “suicide by cop.”

Dudley has been cleared to return to duty early next week, Osborn said.

Munoz, had a criminal history in Arizona that included charges of robbery and kidnapping. He was released from an Arizona prison in December.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.