LV officer injured on duty honored

A Metropolitan Police Department officer who was shot multiple times while responding to a routine call was named the 2008 Police Officer of the Year by a national law enforcement organization.

Ricardo Lara, who has been a Las Vegas police officer for nearly five years, was selected for the honor by the National Latino Peace Officers Association, police officials said Thursday. The group is the largest Latino law enforcement organization in the country, with more than 80 chapters and a membership of more than 25,000. Lara will be presented with the award on Nov. 1, during a convention in Denver.

Lara works out of the Enterprise Area Command substation, which serves the southwest valley.

News accounts said Lara was shot six times on Feb. 26, 2007. He was wearing an armored vest, which saved his life. Lara and officer Dale Jones were responding to a call about a fight at Yummy's Sushi and Chinese Restaurant, 8125 Sahara Ave., near Cimarron Road.

When officers arrived, three men fled in a brown Honda sedan, heading south on Cimarron toward Desert Inn Road, witnesses said. Officers attempted to pull the car over, but the driver sped away. The Honda was ditched at Cimarron and Edna Avenue and one suspect ran into a residential area. A police helicopter spotted the man entering a home about a mile from the sushi restaurant.

"While officers were clearing an upper bedroom, the suspect began firing at officers from behind a bedroom door," according to a statement released by police.

Jones was grazed on the chin with a bullet.

The suspect, Justin Brimmer, 28, was shot and killed by police.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.