DA: Constable appears to be justified in shooting of machete-wielding man

Clark County’s top prosecutor said that Tuesday’s police shooting, in which a Las Vegas deputy constable shot a machete-wielding man in the face, appeared to be justified.

“The (police) report says the machete got stuck in between Sgt. Deputy Constable Ruesch’s uniform shirt and undershirt,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Thursday. “That could be a very temporary situation, and if this defendant’s hand was still on the handle of the machete, he could easily remove it from its stuck position and stab the constable. So I think, based upon my reading of this, there’s still a serious threat to the constable’s life.”

“So does the shooting then seem justified?” a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter asked Wolfson.

“Yes,” Wolfson said.

The 63-year-old constable, Mark Ruesch, shot Victor Vondrasek after Vondrasek attacked maintenance worker Orlando Sosa with a large knife at an apartment in the 6600 block of South Sandhill Road, near East Sunset Road, police have said.

A Metropolitan Police Department report detailing the shooting said the worker had entered Vondrasek’s balcony with a ladder after Ruesch, serving an eviction notice, could not enter through the front door. Vondrasek stabbed Sosa in the neck and also tried to stab Ruesch after he followed Sosa up the ladder, police said. But the machete became lodged between the constable’s uniform shirt and undershirt.

Ruesch then shot Vondrasek with a handgun and tried to provide medical aid to Sosa, who was bleeding from the neck.

Metro officers arrived, and Vondrasek was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, resisting a public officer, battery, and other charges, according to jail records. He and Sosa were taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Authorities did not respond to inquiries about Sosa’s condition. Vondrasek was supposed to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon but did not because he was still in the hospital, according to Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum.

Wolfson also said he did not know Sosa’s condition. When asked if Ruesch was wearing a body camera, Wolfson said he didn’t believe Ruesch had been wearing a recording device, noting that his understanding is that constables don’t wear body cameras.

The district attorney said that the level of violence typically faced by constables differs from that experienced by police officers.

“My understanding of what a constable’s job is, is to serve processes — and those are civil matters,” Wolfson said. “Generally speaking, there isn’t the same degree of fear for a constable that he would be in contact with somebody who becomes violent.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.