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Charges dropped against detective who arrested Nye County district attorney

Criminal charges have been dropped against a sheriff’s detective who arrested embattled Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett in May.

Detective David Boruchowitz was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on 27 counts, many of them felonies, including assault, kidnapping and false arrest.

Instead, the special prosecutor assigned to the case asked that all of the charges against Boruchowitz be dismissed. The judge agreed, and the whole bizarre, months-long legal mess was resolved in minutes inside a North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Addressing Boruchowitz after it was over, Senior Judge Joseph Bonaventure Sr. said, "I’m sorry you had to go through this."

Boruchowitz seemed pleased but not surprised by the result.

"It was a rogue case in the first place, and the justice system always prevails," he said.

All that remains to be settled are the original embezzlement charges for which Beckett was booked on May 5 and his subsequent drunken driving arrest last month.

North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl on Friday ordered a hearing next week in Pahrump that could resolve one or both of those cases with some sort of plea agreement.

Dahl was assigned to hear the Beckett matter after Pahrump Justice of the Peace Tina Brisebill stepped aside because of her familiarity with the parties involved.

It is unclear what sort of deal might be in the works for Beckett. The four-term district attorney has yet to be formally charged in connection with either of his arrests.

Peter S. Christiansen, the special prosecutor who was assigned in June to review the allegations against Beckett and the charges against Boruchowtiz, declined to comment on either case after Friday’s hearings in North Las Vegas.

Beckett did not attend the hearings. His attorney, Thomas Pitaro, said he could not comment because there is nothing to comment on yet.

Beckett’s May 5 arrest stemmed from suspicious transactions involving a bank account his office set up more than a decade ago for restitution payments from people convicted for writing bad checks.

Two weeks after he was booked, Beckett brought charges — first using a special prosecutor, then under his own name — that painted Boruchowtiz as a rogue cop who has been using his badge to wage an election-year campaign of harassment and intimidation against the district attorney and two candidates running against incumbent Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo.

The case against Boruchowitz was dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that it could be refiled .

But the detective’s attorney, Richard Segerblom, called that a legal formality. "It’s not coming back," he said .

DeMeo and two of his top administrators made the trip from Pahrump to North Las Vegas to show their support for Boruchowitz.

"I think it proves to the people of Nye County that we are right and that the other people pointing fingers at us are wrong," DeMeo said.

As for Boruchowitz, DeMeo said, "I have to give him credit. With all this hanging over him — all this hanging over his family — he continued to do the job."

The sheriff added that despite "leadership that is defective in my opinion," the deputy prosecutors and other staff members in Beckett’s office continue to perform their duties like professionals.

Beckett finished last out of five candidates in the June 8 primary election. He is due to leave office when his replacement is sworn in early next year.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.

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