William Fancher accused of leading Las Vegas police on violent chase, report says

A man accused of ramming a stolen U-haul box truck into a Metropolitan Police Department patrol vehicle and leading authorities on a high-speed chase that left three officers injured admitted to being on multiple “very powerful” drugs during the pursuit, according to police documents released this week.

William Fancher, of Portland, Oregon, remained at the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle, possessing burglary tools, assault on a protected person with use of a deadly weapon and disobeying officers, online records show. Las Vegas Justice Court records indicated that Fancher was being held without bail.

The three officers who were reported injured were taken to University Medical Center, where one was treated for lower leg injuries and for neck pain, police said. All three — officers Kenneth Stucker and Jaiden Phillips and another only identified as Sgt. A Bauman — were released from the hospital.

Fancher surrendered to officers near the area of Charleston Boulevard and East Fremont Street after the July 12 pursuit took law enforcement across the central Las Vegas Valley, according to his arrest report. Police say they initially observed Fancher driving erratically and were trying to stop Fancher on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle when he slammed into a police cruiser as officers were exiting to approach his box truck.

During a Wednesday court appearance, Fancher requested a public defender and Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan scheduled his next court date for July 30.

Start of the pursuit

Stucker and Phillips were in the area of Newport Street and Marlborough Avenue, near East Washington Avenue and North Pecos Road, at 7:17 p.m. when they saw the box truck come to a sudden stop and a woman — who looked “shocked,” according to witness statements — abruptly exit.

The box truck then turned onto Newport and went into a cul-de-sac, police said. Officers followed the truck into the cul-de-sac to initiate a traffic stop against the truck.

The officers positioned their vehicle about a foot away from the now forward-facing U-Haul truck, according to the report. As Stucker and Phillips began to exit the vehicle, Fancher reportedly drove forward and struck the front of the patrol cruiser with the truck’s front passenger side, police said.

Both officers had to jump out of the way, according to the report, as the impact from the collision with the box truck had pushed the police vehicle backward. The officers told dispatchers that they believed the truck, which had an Arizona license plate, had been stolen, and initiated the chase after Fancher refused to pull over, police said.

Fancher led officers to numerous locations, including a parking lot in between Bonanza Road and Stewart Avenue, where police said they saw Fancher run multiple red lights and drive the wrong way against the flow of traffic. Fancher eventually led officers to an area near Charleston and Pecos Road, and eventually northbound on Interstate 11, also known as U.S. Highway 95, according to the report.

From the freeway, Fancher reached up to 80 miles per hour, police said. As the vehicle was approaching the Eastern Avenue exit, Bauman approached the box truck while driving an unmarked Dodge pickup truck and was unsuccessful in attempting a so-called pit maneuver to stop Fancher.

Bauman lost control of the truck, which hit a side wall.

Fancher continued northbound and eventually merged onto southbound I-15. Fancher exited onto Sahara Avenue, police said, where he navigated through heavy traffic and struck a civilian’s vehicle while driving into oncoming traffic.

Police then say Fancher turned from Sahara north onto Valley View Boulevard, then east again on Charleston and into a bank parking lot in the 2300 block of Charleston. Police said that as Fancher was heading south through the parking lot, the box truck struck an awning on top of the ATM and destroyed it.

Fancher continued east and eventually made his way to northbound Eastern Avenue and returned to eastbound Charleston. At the intersection of Charleston and Fremont, Fancher exited the U-Haul and laid face down until he was taken into custody by police.

According to an impaired driving report obtained on Wednesday, the pursuit lasted roughly 30 minutes.

Allegedly told officers he had taken ‘spice’

Officers determined Fancher was under the influence of a controlled substance and was initially booked on suspicion of DUI and other charges, according to the arrest report. Fancher told officers he had taken “spice,” a common street name for synthetic marijuana.

Fancher, according to the impaired driving report, admitted to taking at least two drugs described by police as “very powerful,” but the names of those drugs were redacted.

“Fancher was sweating and rocking and talking about ‘the voices’ [that] told him to take the truck,” the report states, noting Fancher believed he had been shot by police. “These irrational thought patterns are common with people under the influence of drugs with loss of reality.”

Detectives later learned that a victim had called the North Las Vegas Police Department shortly before Metro officers attempted to pull Fancher over, according to the report. The truck, which she told officers she rented, was last seen at a dollar store in the 3400 block of East Lake Mead Boulevard.

Crime scene analysts found the box truck’s ignition had been tampered with and that the rubber to the key ignition was discovered on the floor of the passenger seat. Several tools were also observed in the passenger seat area, police said.

When Fancher was placed into custody, police found a key ring with 10 shaved keys, which officers note can be used by thieves when stealing a vehicle, according to the arrest report

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky. Reporter Akiya Dillon also contributed to this report.