As Nye County investigates a vehicle chase in Las Vegas last month that ended after the deputy’s patrol car appeared to ram the suspect’s motorcycle, questions remain as to whether the deputy exercised best practices, not only in initiating the chase but also in how he ended the pursuit.
Traffic deputy Spencer Hagan, while taking part in a distracted driver campaign funded by the state, initiated a pursuit of Johnathan Rios on Aug. 28 after seeing him drive a motorcycle without a license plate on Interstate 11 near Charleston Boulevard, according to an arrest report.
Hagan wrote that he reached speeds of around 90 mph as Rios weaved in and out of traffic before exiting I-11 at the Tropicana Avenue off-ramp. Shortly thereafter, Hagan crossed a median with his vehicle just before the intersection of Mountain Vista Street and Tropicana Avenue and made contact with Rios, knocking over the motorcycle and causing the suspect to tumble into the roadway, a citizen-filmed video showed…