by Mark Coburn | Dec 4, 2012 | Las Vegas Metro Police News, Uncategorized
As you may or may not have noticed, an uprising of water-sellers, t-shirt pan handlers, CD hustlers and other self-described “broke” folk have been doing their best to make a fast buck on the Las Vegas Strip. With the economy in its current state, can you really blame them? Unfortunately, as city zoning would have it, selling anything on the Las Vegas Strip is strictly illegal (unless you are a casino, of course)… and if you are caught in the act by Metro (who are now trolling the strip undercover), you could be fined, jailed, or face other severe penalties. Sadly, many of the individuals recently cited and arrested for selling water and other such goods on the strip were unaware that their activities were illegal. They had seen the hoards of men handing out free porn materials, and assumed that selling good and health bottled water would not turn any heads. Well, this is Vegas. A free picture of a naked woman with her legs spread is more acceptable than paying for a small gulp of the vital life-force liquid itself. Dramatically stated, but true. Dozens of people have been recently ticketed due to the new county ordinance aimed at clearing the strip of independent vendors. The new law took effect last month, and according to county business license agents, “It enhanced our ability to conduct enforcement.” The county agents also said that their office has increased plain-clothed business license agents are patrolling the Strip until 1 a.m. each day. So, in effect, both business agents AND Metro are on the look-out of vendors. Beware. Also outlawed on...
by Mark Coburn | Nov 27, 2012 | Las Vegas Metro Police News, Uncategorized
How would you feel about getting pulled over while strolling down your sidewalk at night? This frustrating experience has happened twice to my partner and I, in our very own Las Vegas neighborhood. When we relocated to the West side of town, at the edge of Summerlin, we didn’t think we needed to do much research beforehand. We’d found a decent condo, were pleased that the location was near several major highways, and we signed our lease. Little did we know, we had moved into an extremely dangerous zone in Las Vegas and would be constantly battling for a moment’s peace among the sounds of the choppers in the sky at night (‘ghetto birds’, they’re called), the constant police sirens, and the domestic shout-outs at 2 a.m. All this we managed to laugh off over the months, and we even light-heartedly brushed off two attempted car thefts, a burglary, and odd circumstances such as a young woman jogging with a baseball bat in hand. “You never know,” she said. But where we drew the line and began to really reconsider our location, was when we discovered we could not even walk to the RedBox on the corner at night to return a DVD without getting pulled over. Yes, we were quite literally pulled over on the sidewalk. “Why are you out here?” the officer began the interrogation. “We’re returning a DVD.” “In this neighborhood?” “Yes, is that okay? There’s a box right over there.” “You’re walking to the box?” “Yes. Why are we being stopped?” “People don’t normally walk around at night out here. I’m going to have...
by Mark Coburn | Nov 8, 2012 | Las Vegas Metro Police News, Uncategorized
Flavor Flav Arrested in Las Vegas Domestic Violence Case Entertainer Flavor Flav (whose legal name is William Drayton Jr.) threw his fiancee to the floor twice and grabbed before grabbing several knives and chasing while threatening to kill her 17-year-old son. These incidents took place in the couple’s home in Las Vegas, according to Metro Police. Luckily, the former rapper, hip-hop star, and reality TV personality did not succeed in stabbing his fiancee’s son. However, Flavor Flav did succeed in cutting his own finger with one of the knives before police arrived and arrested him at 3:30 a.m., according to the Metro police report. William Drayton, 53, faces a Las Vegas felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of Las Vegas battery-domestic violence. He could face up to six years in prison on the assault charge if convicted. His girlfriend of eight years, Elizabeth Trujillo, told police her earring was ripped out during the fight, which she said stemmed from an argument over infidelity. Trujillo told police that her son intervened after Drayton grabbed her and threw her to the ground; then the teen wrestled with Drayton before Drayton grabbed two large knives and chased him through the living room, according to the police report. He has also been arrested in the past for traffic tickets in Las Vegas. The teen told police he ran to his sister’s upstairs bedroom, where he said Drayton kicked in the door and threatened him while holding both knives. Drayton/Flavor Flav has a criminal history that includes arrests and convictions on traffic infractions, a month in jail for...
by Mark Coburn | Oct 10, 2012 | Las Vegas Metro Police News, Uncategorized
Las Vegas Police Increase Tickets due to LV Traffic Fatalities The Las Vegas traffic laws have been re-designed to reduce Las Vegas’ record number of 2012 automobile and pedestrian accident fatalities. Since Las Vegas is a highway based city with roads as wide as six lanes, and because drivers come here from such varying parts of the country (each with a distinct ‘driving personality’), the drivers in Las Vegas tend to bring all sorts of chaos and rebellion to the roads: they tailgate, cut off other drivers, speed beyond the level of safety, drive slow in the fast lane, drive fast in the slow lane, honk and wave fingers, etc. These poor driving habits have even led to Las Vegas’ listing as one of the most ticketed cities in the United States! Recent construction on Interstate 15 also leads to many Las Vegas auto accidents. Because of this, on the highway, a number of express lanes have been added to the left hand side of the road. The lanes, delineated by solid double stripes, are express lanes to the many tourist destinations that people travel too from McCarran airport. Las Vegas officials are hoping that these lanes will help clear up some of the confusion out-of-town drivers face when navigating the Vegas highways. In addition, highway 95 has a high occupancy vehicle lane that many drivers ignore. The high occupancy lanes, or HOV lanes, are for cars with two or more people. If you have received a Las Vegas Speeding Ticket and would like to avoid the lengthy and costly experience of going to court, going to traffic school,...
