Man who fled police shooting was hunted 24/7 until he surrendered, Metro says
Police said they were looking for Jaime Mendoza around the clock.
In the hours between Friday, when Mendoza fled after firing a shot at a Metropolitan Police Department officer — Mendoza was then shot in the hip by the officer, police said — and his eventual arrest on Sunday, officers were hunting for him night and day, Las Vegas police said.
It was “very dangerous” for Mendoza to have been on the loose, said Metro Assistant Sheriff Yasenia Yatomi in a media briefing at Metro’s headquarters Tuesday.
“We had 24/7 coverage to find the suspect and ultimately we were successful and he did, thankfully, peacefully surrender,” Yatomi said.
Yatomi provided more details about the situation in the briefing. On Friday night, Metro detectives requested that patrol officers respond to the 600 block of North Christy Lane regarding an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault, Yatomi said.
Officers were told that Mendoza, 54, was the suspect in the crime, and that he drove a red Toyota, Yatomi said. Upon arrival, officers saw a vehicle matching this description pull into the neighborhood.
When officers began following the vehicle, it “took off at a high rate of speed,” Yatomi said. Officers started a vehicle pursuit but soon lost sight of the car and alerted neighboring police area commands.
Officer Marcos Gomez, 33, and his partner saw a vehicle matching the description and followed it to the 1800 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, Yatomi said.
Here, the suspect drove the car into a tree and parked vehicle at the entrance to a business parking lot. Mendoza then fled on foot, police said.
As police followed, Mendoza, armed with a revolver, fired one round at Gomez, Yatomi said. Gomez fired four rounds at Mendoza, hitting him in the left hip, according to police.
Yatomi said that Gomez’ body camera malfunctioned unexpectedly before the shooting occurred, but that they believe a gunshot sound heard at the end of the preserved footage was Mendoza’s shot.
Mendoza, who continued to flee after being shot, was located and taken into custody on Sunday. He is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder of a first responder, kidnapping, sexual assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer with a firearm, aggravated stalking and auto burglary, Yatomi said.
When Mendoza was found, he was provided medical attention and transported to University Medical Center before being booked in to the Clark County Detention Center.
This was the 14th officer-involved shooting in 2024 and sixth nonfatal shooting, police said. At the same time last year, Metro had eight officer-involved shootings, including three fatal shootings and five nonfatal shootings.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky.