Ex-North Las Vegas police officer pleads guilty for faking his own shooting

A former North Las Vegas police officer has pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer for fabricating a story 11 months ago that his badge saved his life by stopping a suspect's bullet.

Bryan Kolstad must pay $250 in fines, perform 40 hours of community service and stay out of trouble, as part of the plea deal signed last month.

North Las Vegas police found no evidence that a suspect ever existed or that a bullet struck Kolstad's badge in a February 2010 incident.

Kolstad, who resigned from the police department in April, originally was charged with discharging a weapon where a person might be endangered and filing a false report as a public officer, both misdemeanors.

According to court documents, Kolstad told investigators a fleeing suspect shot him once in the badge about 10:20 p.m. Feb. 13 and he returned fire twice, striking the suspect in the shoulder, near Losee Road and the Las Vegas Beltway.

No suspect was ever found, even though authorities converged on the area immediately after the shooting report.

No DNA evidence or a suspect's weapon or shell casing was found at the scene.

More than a dozen people in a nearby apartment complex, including an off-duty Clark County Detention Center officer, told police they heard only two shots.

Kolstad's badge and bullet-resistant vest were later found to have been damaged by a Phillips-head screwdriver.