Group intentionally ramming police vehicles with stolen cars, police say

For the past two months, a pack of thieves has rigged stolen cars and trucks to intentionally ram law enforcement vehicles, and police worry the attacks are becoming more dangerous.

According to Metro Deputy Chief Tom Roberts, the group has targeted six police vehicles from three different departments in Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City since late April.

"If we don't stop them, they're going to seriously hurt or kill somebody," Roberts said during a press conference Monday to announce a reward in the case.

In the first incident on April 29, a Bureau of Land Management K-9 vehicle was hit by a van while in the agent's driveway near the intersection of Galleria Drive and Weston Ridge Street about 12:45 a.m., according to police. Since then, five more police vehicles from Las Vegas police and Nevada Highway Patrol have been targeted by the group, Roberts said.

In each incident, Roberts said, the group put something heavy on the vehicle's accelerator, aimed it at a police vehicle and then let it go.

"They have no discrimination on where this vehicle may go, no concerns," Roberts said.

But not every vehicle has hit its mark.

Roberts said a Metro K-9 unit in the driveway of a home was targeted in the early morning hours of July 6, but the stolen truck glanced off the SUV and crashed into a neighbor's car instead.

Then, on July 22, it appears the group went beyond just targeting parked police cars in the middle of the night. This time, the group launched a truck stolen the day before in Mesquite across a desert lot towards an officer making a traffic stop around 11:30 p.m. near Bermuda Road and Starr Avenue. The truck struck a light pole within a few hundred feet of the officer.

The most recent incident came Monday morning, and prompted Metro to publicly offer a reward of at least $1,000 for any information leading to an arrest.

Just before 4 a.m. in Desert Shores, near Cheyenne Avenue and Rampart Boulevard, a stolen Ford F-350 was used to ram into a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper's truck he had parked in his driveway.

"The impact was so significant that it ran the troopers car into the residence, and the suspect's stolen vehicle caught fire," Roberts said.

Roberts said the trooper acted quickly to cut the ignition to the F-350 before the fire could spread.

While canvassing the neighborhood for suspects Monday, police noticed an open front door at a nearby house and found a dead man inside. Police do not believe the two incidents are linked.

With the exception of the July 22 case, the vehicles used in the rammings were stolen from the immediate area just hours before, according to police.

Roberts said the group consists of at least three people who are likely responsible for numerous other auto thefts and burglaries in the areas where the incidents occurred. He called them "thieves first."

Since the incidents have all happened either late at night or early in the morning, and because the group leaves the area long before officers arrive on scene, getting any kind of identifying information about the suspects has been difficult. But a few home surveillance systems have caught the group scouting neighborhoods with two vehicles: a small truck, either a Chevrolet S10 or GMC Sonoma, and a white 4-door car, according to police.

"We believe that someone out there will recognize these vehicles," Roberts said.

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or go online at www.crimestoppersofnv.com.

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead