Man shot by Las Vegas police yells profanities in court appearance

As a prosecutor on Friday morning listed the allegations against Austin Cadeaux, who was shot by Las Vegas police this week while allegedly trying to evade officers, the suspect began yelling profanities in the courtroom.

“He was ramming into police and civilian cars just to avoid arrest,” the prosecutor said as she argued against bail for the 29-year-old suspect during his first court appearance. “He’s a danger to the …”

Cutting her off, Cadeaux yelled, “They shot me,” followed by profanity-laced statements. “I didn’t ram anything.” map

“It’s on video, sir,” Judge Ann Zimmerman said as Cadeaux, standing behind a glass partition, continued to speak over her.

Cadeaux, who has five prior felony convictions, is facing five counts of battery with a deadly weapon and one count of evading a police vehicle in the latest incident, jail records show. The Metropolitan Police Department has said that Cadeaux was shot Wednesday night after ramming a U-Haul truck into two patrol vehicles while trying to escape from the officers.

Cadeaux had been hospitalized with survivable injuries following the shooting. Police have not released details of his injuries, but on Friday morning, Cadeaux was able to walk without assistance.

In light of his recent arrest, he now also faces a probation violation in connection with a March 2019 conviction for possession of a stolen vehicle. Clark County District Court records show that at the time of Wednesday’s shooting, he was out on probation in that case on a suspended maximum three-year jail sentence.

“What about the police shooting me?” Cadeaux said Friday, wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and shackled at the wrists and ankles. “Police shot me.”

During the exchange with Zimmerman, correctional officers had to pull Cadeaux back to the mic after he had walked away while the judge was still speaking to him.

“I’m not the one who arrested you. I’m only here to address your custody,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve certainly done nothing to earn your disrespect.”

“I’m sorry,” Cadeaux said.

Zimmerman ordered him held without bail pending a status hearing on Tuesday morning.

The shooting occurred shortly after 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, when Metro officers spotted the U-Haul truck, which had apparently evaded police a few days earlier, in a convenience store parking lot near Paradise and Desert Inn roads. Police have not said why officers attempted to stop the truck during the previous encounter.

When officers approached the truck, Metro has said, Cadeaux put the vehicle in reverse, ramming a patrol car. He then put the car in drive and hit a second patrol vehicle before speeding north on Paradise Road toward Karen Avenue.

As he fled, an officer who was inside the first patrol vehicle fired at the U-Haul, striking Cadeaux at least once. He allegedly crashed into two more cars near Paradise and Karen before trying to run away. He was taken into custody a short time later, according to Metro.

Late Friday night, Metro identified the officer who shot Cadeaux as 25-year-old Joshua Byington, who’s been employed with the department since December 2016.

Byington, who was assigned to the south central area command’s community policing division at the time of the shooting, has been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending a review of the shooting, Metro said. Further details and body camera footage will be provided later, per Metro protocol.

In addition to the stolen vehicle conviction earlier this year, District Court records show that Cadeaux’s prior convictions, dating back to 2014, are for attempted grand larceny of a vehicle, possession of drugs with intent to sell, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

In each case that resulted in a conviction, he had pleaded guilty as part of a deal. The dropped charges as part of those deals were battery, assault and resisting a public officer, according to the records.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.