Woman calls raid improper

Former County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates' daughter-in-law testified Friday that the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Las Vegas police tried to interview her about the ongoing investigation into Atkinson Gates and that police threatened to take away her 3-year-old daughter if she didn't help them.

During a hearing in District Court in an unrelated case, Kathryn O'Gara said that authorities tried to interview her about the investigation into Atkinson Gates' campaign finances once at her job and twice at her house, but that she wouldn't assist them.

"They told me if I didn't decide to cooperate with them, that my child was going to be taken away from me," O'Gara said.

Police have said they never made contact with O'Gara.

Las Vegas police are investigating why Atkinson Gates paid her son Brian Atkinson Turner and O'Gara $407,343 from her 2004 campaign funds and whether she funneled money back to herself.

O'Gara and Atkinson Turner are facing drug and child endangerment charges and appeared before District Judge Donald Mosley on Friday to challenge the police search of their house.

Their case stems from an Aug. 15 incident in which a motorist called police to report that O'Gara was driving recklessly and appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The motorist followed O'Gara to the couple's house, which is just east of the Southern Highlands Golf Course.

Police arrived shortly after, eventually entered the house and found the residence unkempt and marijuana inside, authorities said. Police also found a .40-caliber handgun in the master bedroom and a handgun inside the couple's Mercedes, authorities said.

O'Gara told Mosley that before police entered the house, officers pounded on her door for more than 45 minutes but she refused to acknowledge them. When asked why, she said she was tired of the authorities badgering her because of the investigation into her mother-in-law.

"I was sick of being harassed," she said. "My lawyer told me that I didn't have to open the door. I didn't have to talk to them anymore. And I did not want to be told once again that I was going to have my child taken away if I didn't cooperate."

O'Gara, 25, said one IRS agent, two FBI agents and a plainclothes Las Vegas police detective tried to question her at her job before the Aug. 15 incident but she referred them to her attorney.

She said investigators tried to interview her on two more occasions at her house. Once she spoke to them only through a closed door, and the second time Atkinson Turner spoke to them while she was in a second-floor bedroom.

The FBI in Las Vegas did not return phone calls seeking comment, and IRS supervisory special agent Sam Holland said he couldn't confirm or deny that the IRS was involved in the investigation.

The Las Vegas police unit investigating Atkinson Gates confirmed that it is looking into campaign payments from the former county commissioner, but said it never interviewed O'Gara, said officer Ramon Denby, a spokesman for the police.

He said the unit isn't working with the IRS or FBI on the investigation.

Andrew Leavitt, O'Gara's attorney, said she may have confused an FBI or IRS agent for a Las Vegas police detective and maintained that her testimony was true.

During Friday's hearing, O'Gara accused the police of heavy-handed tactics during the search of her house. She said that upwards of 19 police officers responded to the house and searched through bedrooms, kitchen cupboards, bathrooms and other areas of the house.

She denied that her daughter, who was about 21/2 years old at the time of the search, was ever in danger and questioned why police waited so long outside the house if they believed the child was in jeopardy.

O'Gara testified that police pointed guns at her head and at her daughter when they entered the house and told her "to put my child down and get the (expletive) on the floor," she said.

Police then handcuffed her but let her daughter "run amok" inside the house.

"Never did they (police) touch my child. Never did they look at her," she said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge said O'Gara's claims contradicted what police had previously stated and questioned her credibility.

He asked O'Gara why Atkinson Turner jumped over a 6-foot-high wall in the backyard of the house when police arrived, and why the couple had a 55-gallon drum in their bathroom which authorities allege was used to grow marijuana.

O'Gara claimed Atkinson Turner left the house through the back because it's a shortcut to a bar where he could make a phone call to his attorney.

She didn't explain the 55-gallon drum.

The hearing will continue in late February.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.