Officers won’t face charges in April shooting of man armed with shotgun

Two Las Vegas police officers will not face charges after they shot and killed a man armed with a sawed-off shotgun last April.

Because the Clark County District Attorney’s Office decided not to file charges, a public fact-finding review of the case was held Wednesday at the Clark County Government Center.

Metropolitan Police Department Detective Scott Mendoza, who was in charge of the department’s investigation into the shooting, answered questions from the District Attorney’s Office and from an ombudsman representing the family of the man killed: 24-year-old Chase Rosa.

The officers who shot Rosa, previously identified as 27-year-old Jonathan Tomaino and 26-year-old Alex Kempf, were not present for Wednesday’s hearing.

Speeding before police shooting

About 1:55 p.m. April 21, a Metro sergeant in an unmarked vehicle with lights and sirens attempted to stop Rosa while he was driving a white Acura sedan “erratically” near Decatur Boulevard and U.S. Highway 95, Mendoza said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Rosa did not stop the driver, and officers determined through the license plate on the Acura that the car had been reported stolen.

For more than an hour, Rosa drove through the Las Vegas Valley at speeds of up to 120 mph as a Metro helicopter tracked him and officers in unmarked patrol cars stayed in his area during what police call a “bubbling” technique. Mendoza said officers did not chase Rosa, but instead were waiting for a safe time to arrest him if he got out of the vehicle.

Rosa traveled from the northwest valley toward McCarran International Airport, where he pulled into a Chevron gas station about 2:40 p.m. He stopped long enough for two women in the car with him to get out but sped away before officers could catch up, Mendoza said.

The two women were detained. They reportedly said Rosa initially wouldn’t let them out of the car while he was speeding through the valley. They also told police Rosa was armed with a shotgun, Mendoza said.

Police confrontation

About 10 minutes later, Rosa stopped his car in front of Siegel Suites at 455 E. Twain Ave., near Paradise Road, where police officers caught up to him.

At Siegel Suites, Rosa reportedly got out of his car and pointed the sawed-off shotgun at another driver, then turned toward police. Tomaino and Kempf then shot him.

Mendoza said that although it’s not audible in body-worn camera footage presented at the hearing, the officers did identify themselves as police. While they were not in uniform, they were wearing tactical vests that would have identified them as well, he said.

Footage released Wednesday showed Rosa on the ground, still moving slightly, as officers yelled at him not to reach for his shotgun. Mendoza said officers then put Rosa in handcuffs and began medical treatment until other first responders arrived.

He was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.

The Clark County coroner’s office ruled his death a homicide due to multiple gunshot wounds. Toxicology results showed marijuana and a “high level” of methamphetamine in his system, Mendoza said.

Tomaino fired 11 rounds and Kempf four. After, officers determined the shotgun had an expended round in the chamber, meaning another round would have to have been loaded for the gun to fire.

“We had no evidence of this gun being fired at all during the (officer-involved shooting),” Mendoza said Wednesday.

If Rosa had survived, he would have faced charges of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, possession of a short-barrelled shotgun, possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest with a deadly weapon, and being a prohibited person with a firearm, Mendoza said. He had a parole warrant from Salt Lake City stemming from a larceny charge.

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