Officer involved in shooting was inquest witness in 2005

Hendricks, who fatally shot Paul Hambleton, 32, in the back as he fled police earlier this month, was called as an inquest witness in 2005.

The case involved the death of 47-year-old Russell Walker, who was shocked with a Taser multiple times by police, including while strapped to a gurney.

Hendricks, then an officer, helped restrain Walker during the incident, which is now the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court.

The inquest jury cleared two officers in the death of Walker. Autopsy results showed the man had been high on cocaine during the confrontation with police in front of the Western Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.

“Usually, it would take one or two officers to get him into handcuffs,” Hendricks said at the 2005 inquest. “Now, it’s taking all five of us to get his hands into a restraint. That is very uncommon.”

Jurors determined that Walker caused his own death, which was attributed to cardiac arrhythmia.

Fast forward four years, and Hendricks, 30, now an 11-year veteran with the department, finds himself preparing for another inquest. On Aug. 14, it will be his actions that a jury will consider.

Police said Hambleton, who was under arrest, fled from two detectives and engaged in a physical altercation before being shot.

Police Protective Association President Chris Collins said it’s not uncommon for officers to be involved in multiple shootings or incidents that involve a suspect’s death or injury during a career on the force. Officers are placed in life and death situations every day, he said, and exercise restraint in most cases.

“Days and months go by when we don’t shoot anybody, and that’s the story that doesn’t get told,” Collins said.

Hendricks’ actions earlier this month will be probed in the inquest. His role four years ago in the Walker case remains under scrutiny in a $10 million wrongful death civil lawsuit filed in 2007 on behalf of Walker’s widow, Kelly Walker.

The lawsuit alleges that Sgt. Cindy Rodriguez and officer Matthew Ruiz shocked Walker while he was handcuffed. In addition to Hendricks, Rodriguez and Ruiz, the lawsuit names former Sheriff Bill Young as a defendant.

Police spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said Tuesday that lawyers representing the Metropolitan Police Department will appear before a judge today seeking Hendricks’ removal from the lawsuit, along with several other officers named as defendants.

“He had such a minimal part of it,” Morgan said of Hendricks.

Not so, according to plaintiff’s attorney Marc Saggese.

Although the wrongful death complaint doesn’t detail the role Hendricks played in the death of Russell Walker, Saggese said Hendricks held the handcuffed man down as he was being shocked with a Taser.

Saggese said Walker was strapped to a gurney and handcuffed as officers continued to shock him.

“There were signs of his inability to breathe. There was a group of cops on him; all of them had a knee or a palm on him,” Saggese said. “When they slipped him into the ambulance, he was dead.”

Saggese said Walker was under the influence of drugs as he paced in front of a downtown casino June 6, 2005. Walker then began ripping up money and tossing the pieces into the air. When security officers failed to get him to stop, they called police.

“He was nonviolent; he didn’t touch a security officer,” Saggese said of Walker. “He didn’t do anything but stomp around and rip up some money.”

Saggese said security video shows that officers immediately grabbed Walker’s wrist and neck when they arrived at the casino. The officers handcuffed Walker and then began using their Tasers.

In the Hambleton case, police said a Taser was fired unsuccessfully. Police had been questioning Hambleton as a “person of interest” in the sexual assault of a girl under the age of 14. According to Clark County court records, Hambleton pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of attempted theft in 2003.

Hambleton was interviewed by police at the El Jen Convalescent Hospital and Retirement Center, 5538 Duncan Drive. He was a physical therapy assistant there for Mountain Land Rehabilitation.

El Jen is less than a quarter-mile from where the shooting took place. After the interview, detectives determined Hambleton was a suspect and arrested him. He fled, and detectives chased him on foot.

The pursuit ended outside a vacant house, where police said one of the detectives and Hambleton had a “physical altercation.” Hendricks fired his handgun twice, killing the suspect, police said.

Hendricks is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the inquest.

Not much is known about Hambleton, although details of his life can be pieced together through court documents and public records. Family members have declined to speak about him.

Hambleton joined the Army at 18. He achieved the rank of sergeant as a petroleum supply specialist.

He was assigned to posts in Virginia, South Carolina and Germany and received several awards, including the Army Achievement Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.

Just months after being honorably discharged, Hambleton was hired as an armored truck driver by Loomis Fargo, court documents show.

In 2002, over the course of a month and a half, he stole nearly $6,000 from the company’s ATMs. He was caught and repaid $2,100, but the company pressed charges for the remaining amount.

In a plea to reduce his bail amount, Hambleton said he had owned a house in Clark County for three years, was a full-time student at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and lived with his girlfriend and her two children for three years.

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