Lawsuit paints Las Vegas marshals as ‘rogue’ agency exceeding territorial limits
A new lawsuit claims Las Vegas city marshals have policed territory outside their jurisdiction and violated people’s constitutional rights by conducting illegal searches and seizures and making false arrests.
The complaint, filed in federal court Thursday by attorney Adam Breeden on behalf of Derek Myers and a proposed class estimated to include more than 1,000 others, describes the city marshals as “a rogue law enforcement agency brazenly operating outside its legal authority.”
Myers was stopped on Interstate 11 at Craig Road in January when marshals Jason Brooks and Sergio Guzman, who are named as defendants, suspected he was speeding and following too closely, according to court records. They detained him, searched his vehicle “without consent or a warrant, administered a faulty Nystagmus test and arrested him,” the suit alleges.
A nystagmus test is a field sobriety test that involves observing eye movements.
Myers was detained for about 17 hours before he was released and has not been formally charged with any offense, according to the filing, which alleges Fourth and 14th Amendment violations.
City spokesperson Jace Radke said the city does not comment on pending litigation, but he provided a state law showing that in 1995, legislators removed a provision that previously stated that marshals could not enforce moving violations outside of public parks and recreational facilities.
Radke did not directly respond to a request for interviews with Brooks and Guzman.
Back in the early 1970s, city and county law enforcement agencies merged to create the Metropolitan Police Department. In 1993, a state law was enacted that allowed the city to have marshals, but those officers were intended to only have jurisdiction, or authority, over city property, like parks and jails, according to the suit.
The complaint points to the same statute Radke cited, NRS 280.125, which states, in part, that marshals’ authority is limited to “the enforcement of state laws and city and county ordinances on real property owned, leased or otherwise under the control of the participating political subdivision.”
“Despite this clear territorial jurisdiction on the city marshals, the City of Las Vegas and its marshals today openly violate the territorial restrictions on their jurisdiction and conduct law enforcement activities in violation of the limitations placed on their agency by state law,” the suit alleges.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.