Man threatened shootout at Hoover Dam after stealing car

A man threatened a shootout with police near Hoover Dam on Friday after fleeing from officers in a stolen rental car from the Strip, police said.

At around 3 p.m., a rental car employee called police reporting a 2022 Nissan Sentra had been stolen from Aria and was in the MGM Grand parking garage. The driver, later identified as 38-year-old Geoffrey Friend, drove recklessly out of the garage and fled from officers, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

A police helicopter followed Friend to State Route 172 and Interstate 11 near the Hoover Dam where he parked under an overpass. Friend exited the Nissan and got into a parked construction truck.

During a three-way phone call with Friend, his sister and police, Friend said he would not get out and was going “shoot it out with police,” the report read.

SWAT officers arrested Friend, who was taken to University Medical Center after suffering a police dog bite. A black BB gun was found near the construction truck after Friend was arrested, according to the report.

Friend was charged with possessing a stolen vehicle and remains in custody on $10,000 bail.

District Court records show Friend had multiple prior felony convictions including for grand larceny of a vehicle and attempted burglary.

Friend’s police report also noted that he had two prior convictions out of Sparks for possession of a stolen vehicle.

He was due in court on Thursday.

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Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.