Las Vegas doctor faces charges in domestic violence case
A Las Vegas doctor was arrested last month after he allegedly pointed a gun at his wife and daughter in the middle of the night and struck his spouse repeatedly, according to his arrest report.
Darren Wirtz, a doctor of osteopathic medicine with the Adult Medicine Specialists in Northwest Las Vegas, was arrested on Dec. 29 on charges of battery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse or neglect, domestic battery and making a false statement to or obstructing a public officer, the report said.
Wirtz’s stepson, Tom, called 911 just after midnight that morning and said that Wirtz had pointed a gun at him after he woke up to the sound of gunshots and his mother and sister crying, according to the report.
When officers arrived they spoke with Tom, who told them that when he walked out of his bedroom,he saw his mom, Lordlita, crying with “a lot of blood on her head and face.”
Tom said Wirtz was trying to get Lordlita back into the bedroom and pointed a gun at him, telling him “to go back to his room and stay out of the situation,” the report said.
Officers asked Lordlita to come out of the house with their daughter if it was safe to do so, the report said. Wirtz let Lordlita leave, but kept their daughter with him.
Lordlita told police that Wirtz had been drinking all day on Dec. 28 and he got into an argument with their neighbors across the street around 1 p.m. She said he was arguing with them about “trashcan placement on the street and parking of vehicles,” according to the report.
When Wirtz came back inside the house around 1:30 p.m., he was angry with Lordlita for not taking his side in the argument and told her she should move out of the house and take her son with her, the report said. She said Wirtz went to his medical office, on Tenaya Way and Cascade Valley Court, around 4 p.m. and didn’t return until around 7 p.m., the report said.
She said Wirtz was still upset about the argument, so she took her daughter into her bedroom and they went to sleep. Lordlita told police she woke up around 11:45 p.m. to find Wirtz pointing a handgun at her face, according to the report.
The two wrestled for the handgun and four rounds were fired, the report said. No one was hit by the shots, but Lordlita had a cut on her forehead that she attributed to Wirtz hitting her with the gun three times, the report said.
Wirtz walked out of the house shortly after his wife and “was acting erratic and yelling at officers,” according to the report. The officers asked him to keep his hands visible so they could take him into custody, but he ignored their commands and walked to his red Ford F150 in the driveway, the report said. Lordlita told officers there was a shotgun in the truck.
Officers fired rubber bullets and deployed a K-9, which bit Wirtz on the arms, the report said. He was taken into custody and transported to University Medical Center for treatment, then booked into the Clark County Detention Center on $50,000 bail.
Wirtz has had an active license with the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine since 2009. According to the board, he had no disciplinary actions against him as of Tuesday.
His initial court appearance is scheduled for March 5.
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.
