Police recruit reached for gun during DUI arrest, report says

When an officer woke up a former North Las Vegas police recruit who was asleep behind the wheel after crashing into a parked car in July, she reached toward the gun holstered on her hip, according to the woman’s arrest report.

Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to an apartment complex in the Las Vegas Valley about 2:30 a.m. July 26 by a Lyft driver who reported a truck had backed into his parked car despite him “blowing his horn,” the report said.

They found 26-year-old Anna Gallagher asleep behind the wheel of a silver GMC pickup.

When an officer approached Gallagher, a North Las Vegas police recruit at the time, to wake her up and ask her to step out of the truck, she “started to reach down towards her right side” where a firearm was holstered to her hip, the report said.

“Gallagher was assisted out of the GMC and the firearm was safely removed from her person,” the report said.

Police smelled a “strong odor” of alcohol on Gallagher’s breath when she spoke in a “slurred” voice. She failed three field sobriety tests and told police she had two beers that night, the report said.

Gallagher told police she was leaving her apartment complex to go to the store. It was unclear from the report where in Metro’s jurisdiction the apartment complex was.

Delen Goldberg, chief of staff for North Las Vegas, confirmed Sunday that Gallagher was arrested on suspicion of DUI. She was tested for DUI and arrested by members of the multiagency DUI Strike Team, Department of Public Safety spokesman Andrew Bennett.

Goldberg described the crash as “more of a fender bender” and said no one was injured. On Sunday, Goldberg was unsure where in the valley Gallagher had been arrested but said it was outside North Las Vegas.

Gallagher since has resigned from the department, North Las Vegas police spokesman Eric Leavitt said Wednesday. She faces misdemeanor charges of DUI and possessing a gun under the influence of alcohol or drugs, court records show.

She was released from custody on her own recognizance the day she was arrested, according to court records. She is due to appear in court Sept. 24.

Gallagher was not the only person associated with the North Las Vegas Police Department to be arrested on suspicion of DUI that week.

Clinton Ryan, who since has resigned from his position as the department’s assistant chief, was arrested July 21 after a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper witnessed him swerving while driving a truck pulling a horse trailer, according to Ryan’s arrest report.

“There is zero tolerance in the department for this type of behavior,” police Chief Pamela Ojeda said in a statement after Gallagher’s arrest. “It will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately, and we will be aggressively addressing it departmentwide.”

When Ryan was pulled over, he asked troopers “multiple times if there was anything that we could do to help him out,” a trooper wrote in his arrest report. Ryan also was released from custody on his own recognizance the day he was arrested.

He faces misdemeanor charges of DUI, drinking alcohol while driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle, and failure to maintain travel lanes, court records show. He is due to appear in court on Sept. 19.

Internal affairs investigations were opened into both crashes, but it was unclear Friday if either investigation has been closed after Gallagher and Ryan’s resignations.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.