Inquest jury clears officer in shooting

A coroner’s jury took 16 minutes Friday to rule that a Las Vegas police officer who shot and killed a homeless man in a vacant lot acted justifiably.

The panel found George Pease, 27, used proper force when he fired his weapon twice at 35-year-old David Cecil Riddle near the Fez Motel, 4213 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Pease said he was about to arrest Riddle about 1 a.m. on Dec. 10 for prowling when he was charged by the knife-wielding and agitated suspect.

"I had nothing personal against this man, he wasn’t anyone I knew," Pease told jurors. "It was just things that transpired at the time."

Riddle’s sister had taken the stand prior to Pease and described her brother as mentally unstable and a danger to others in the past.

"He was scary, he heard voices," said Tina Piper. "He thought his brain was connected by a wire to a satellite in outer space. … He accused me of conspiring against him because I wouldn’t admit I heard the voices or saw the wire."

Piper, who broke down in tears on the stand, talked with Pease afterward for several minutes, telling him she did not harbor any animosity for the shooting.

About the same time, vocal coroner’s inquest foe Larry Kepler was ordered from the courthouse by bailiffs after shouting at several officers in the hallway. On the courthouse steps, the longtime critic of the inquest system partially removed his suit jacket and challenged homicide Detective David Hatch to a fight.

Pease, a five-year veteran of the department, had been involved in another fatal shooting nearly two years ago with a knife-wielding suspect. Pease testified then that 20-year-old Daniel Schiess, a prostitute, had tried to rob him and was intent on killing him. That shooting was also ruled justifiable.

Pease testified Friday that the incident with Riddle began about midnight when he observed the man peering into parked cars. Pease said he conducted a pedestrian stop and warned Riddle to discontinue the behavior.

The officer said Riddle appeared to be homeless and on "hard times," so he did not make an arrest just then. However, Pease said, he saw Riddle once again looking into cars about an hour later.

Pease said he watched Riddle for awhile and finally decided to arrest him. He said he pulled up in his patrol car and shined his lights in the area, finally ordering Riddle to come over to him.

Riddle, he said, appeared angry.

"The last thing I wanted to do was get in a fight with this man, he’s pretty good size," the officer said of the 6-foot-tall, 200-pound suspect.

Pease said he approached Riddle from the rear to handcuff him and was four to five feet away when Riddle suddenly turned and slashed at him with a hunting-type knife.

Riddle, Pease said, kept on approaching while making numerous death threats. Pease said that, while walking backward and continuingly ordering Riddle to drop the knife, he tripped on a small berm in the lot.

Riddle then lunged at him, Pease said, and he fired once at the man’s chest.

Riddle screamed and spun 90 degrees, the officer said, but was still intent on attacking. Pease said he had to fire a second shot when Riddle, on his hands and knees and still clutching the knife, pushed himself up "like a sprint runner" and made another charge.

"I let him get too close, way too close," Pease said.

Earlier, jurors were shown a brief segment from a department training film that said an officer needs to be 21 feet from a knife-carrying suspect to defend against a sudden attack. The film said that distance would allow enough time to remove a weapon and fire.

Pease said he was also worried that Riddle could have gotten into his patrol car, where he kept a loaded shotgun.

Piper testified that her brother’s aberrant behavior began three years ago. Prior to then, she said, he was simply moody but never aggressive.

She also said he used methamphetamine, but as far as she knew he had quit last year. No traces of drugs or alcohol were found in Riddle’s bloodstream.

Another of Riddle’s delusions, Piper said, was his feeling that he was being closely followed by homosexuals whom he claimed were "trying to get (him) to be a faggot."

There had been unsuccessful attempts, Piper said, to get Riddle committed to mental health facilities in California and possibly Nevada. One facility, which she did not recall, had turned him loose after a short stay after determining "there was nothing wrong."

Piper recalled another time when Riddle "went wild" in a psychiatrist’s office and had, on another occasion, threatened his grandmother by backing her into a corner.

Homicide detective Norm Ziola testified that the sum total of Riddle’s possessions were four quarters, two guitar picks, a wristwatch with no band and a California bus ticket.

Clark County deputy medical examiner, Dr. Robert Jordan, said either shot by Pease would have been fatal.