Adomeit Drive honors police officer who acted heroically

“He was a friendly guy,” said Jackie Miller, a retired sergeant and historian for the Henderson Police Department who was a friend of Adomeit. “He didn’t like to fight. He would talk more people into custody.”

Adomeit’s biggest recognition came after his involvement with Henderson’s worst disaster, May 4, 1988, in the explosion that destroyed the Pacific Engineering & Production Co. of Nevada, also known as PEPCON.

As explosions continued sending debris flying, Adomeit and another highway patrolman stayed to make sure civilians were safe.

Even after a third explosion, which forced Adomeit to take a break from helping others receive first aid, Adomeit was relentless in taking care of residents.

“That’s just what type of guy he was,” Miller said.

Adomeit suffered hearing loss in both ears and had a punctured eardrum from the blasts.

His dedication didn’t go unnoticed.

The Clark County Police Officers’ Association honored Adomeit with a medal of valor. He also received a citation of recognition from the Valley of Heroes for going beyond the call of duty.

Miller said it was either 1989 or 1990 when Adomeit was informed that a street name would be attributed to him for his heroism.

Before Adomeit was known for heroics, he was notorious for being a practical jokester and an all-around nice guy.

“Even the bad guys loved him,” Miller said. “A lot of times when he would arrest them, by the time they got to jail, they were laughing. Everybody loved him.”

In 1980, when he was 26, Adomeit became an officer for the Henderson Police Department. Before that, he was a member of the U.S. Air Force, which brought him to Henderson in 1974.

Miller said Adomeit had the “gift of gab.”

“He could talk and talk and talk,” Miller said.

He would keep his fellow officers entertained with jokes as well.

One time, in order to punish him for too many jokes, Adomeit was sent to work at an animal shelter.

“That wasn’t the neatest assignment,” Miller said.

The plan backfired when Adomeit expressed how much he loved working there.

“He ended up making changes and improvements (to the shelter),” Miller said. “They had to ship him back (to the department).”

Even though he was a good officer, Miller said Adomeit had to retire because of a knee injury in 1992.

Miller said Adomeit was offered employment with the city’s finance department as a license agent. He was later promoted to a senior business license agent, enforcing and investigating licensing rules and complaints.

Adomeit was also known for developing the first code enforcement academy program for Nevada, which helped business owners become compliant with business licensing statutes without having to be cited.

In 1999 he hired Ken Lowery, who is now the current business license supervisor.

Lowery said his sense of humor carried over to the licensing department.

“It didn’t matter rank or class,” Lowery said. “If you knew Bill, he would pull a joke on you. He really could have been a professional comedian. He was probably the funniest and most serious guy I knew.”

Adomeit died March 14, 2008, at age 53.

Miller said he died of a brain tumor.

Lowery remembers being at a party where Adomeit fell after stumbling. People urged him to go see a doctor where he discovered what was wrong.

Lowery said even on his death bed, Adomeit never lost his sense of humor.

Miller said the doctors gave him six months to live, but Miller said he lasted two years.

“He was a fighter,” Miller said. “It was a shame when he passed. I miss him.”

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.