Suspect in Las Vegas police shooting wanted in burglaries
The man who traded gunfire with a Las Vegas police detective Saturday night had escaped house arrest recently and was wanted in a string of burglaries, police announced Tuesday.
The detective, Travis Linder, was one of several conducting a stakeout of Jason Henry Baker’s apartment at 8530 W. Sahara Ave., Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said at a Tuesday news conference.
Baker, 34, was suspected of “quite a few” burglaries in Spring Valley and throughout the Las Vegas Valley, Metro Capt. Peter Boffelli added.
While staking out the apartment at about 9:35 p.m. Saturday, the police learned Baker was in a tan Chevrolet Silverado at a nearby convenience store at Durango Drive and Sahara.
Baker bailed from the Silverado as officers attempted to take him into custody and took off toward the apartment complex, Zimmerman said. Baker shot a handgun once in an unknown direction before hopping a wall into the complex.
Linder chased Baker on foot inside the complex until Baker tripped and fell to the ground, Zimmerman said.
“As Baker fell to the ground, he rolled and aimed his firearm in the direction of Detective Linder,” he said.
Linder, 39, shot once at Baker at 9:42 p.m., and Baker fired back. Both rounds missed. Baker got on his feet, dropped his gun and ran until other detectives on the stakeout took him into custody.
Linder wasn’t wearing a body camera because Metro’s policy doesn’t require plainclothes officers to do so. Zimmerman said it’s not feasible for a plainclothes detective to wear one while on a stakeout.
Police showed a snippet of convenience store security footage of Baker running from police.
Baker was treated for a sprained ankle at University Medical Center.
He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges including attempted murder, possession of a gun by a prohibited person, shooting a gun where others might be endangered and resisting an officer with a gun.
He faces additional charges of burglary and tampering with an electronic monitoring device, according to jail records.
Boffelli, the captain overseeing Metro’s Spring Valley Area Command, said Baker was suspected of taking weapons, jewelry and electronics in residential burglaries.
Police became aware Aug. 15 that Baker had escaped house arrest by removing an electronic ankle bracelet and leaving it outside the Clark County Detention Center, Zimmerman said. Baker was on house arrest on several burglary and stolen-property-related charges, and he has a lengthy criminal history of similar charges, court records show.
This was Metro’s 16th police shooting this year and its sixth this month. Metro had 16 police shootings at this time last year, as well.
Linder is on paid leave while police investigate the shooting.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Blake Apgar contributed to this report.
