Man who shot at police thanks Las Vegas officer for saving him
Las Vegas police officer Tyler Hebb risked his own life to save the life of a man who shot at police.
As a hail of 19 police bullets struck William Alfredo Chafoya last summer, Hebb rushed to his side to stop the bleeding, a prosecutor said Tuesday before Chafoya was sent to prison.
“Never in any officer-involved shooting that I’ve ever been to, that I’ve ever worked on have I seen true acts of heroism like I saw from officer Hebb,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth said.
The officer and his trainee, Brandon Foster, fired 26 times during a shootout in a North Las Vegas residential neighborhood in July 2017.
Police at the time said Chafoya fired five shots during the encounter — at least one into the air and then others in the direction of the officers.
Chafoya, 38, pleaded guilty last month to one count of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and two counts of assault on a protected person while using a deadly weapon.
Ashley Elizabeth Olivetti, 31, was with Chafoya amd was struck in the arm by an officer’s round during the crossfire. She pleaded guilty in October, but the details of that negotiation are under seal.
In a courtroom packed with police on Tuesday, Chafoya asked which officer wrapped him in a tourniquet, then looked toward Hebb.
“Thank you very much,” he said. “I appreciate that, and I’m sorry for putting you and your family through this.”
Chafoya admitted he was high on methamphetamine at the time.
“I do deserve whatever I’m going to get,” he said. “I’m not making any excuse because I smoked meth or because I’m an addict. I’m not saying that’s an excuse. I’m not asking for that.”
Defense attorney Michael Schwarz, a former Chicago police officer, said he had never represented anyone as remorseful as Chafoya.
“I have never ever stood in a courtroom and turned around and thanked two police officers for arresting my client,” Schwarz said. “They didn’t have to do what they did. And the only reason Mr. Chafoya is here to be sentenced instead of buried for the past several months is because of them. And I thank both of them.”
Hebb, a training officer, and Foster had spotted a stolen Honda believed to have been used in a prior shooting. They attempted a traffic stop before the car sped away.
Foster, who graduated from the police academy about a month before the shooting, said Chafoya was driving at upward of 100 miles an hour along residential streets before he stopped and fired at police. Foster called Hebb “one of the most courageous officers” he has met.
Footage from a home security system and body cameras captured the shooting outside a home in North Las Vegas.
Hebb, an 11-year veteran of the force, told District Judge Douglas Herndon that he has known officers who were shot and killed in the line of duty.
“I fully understand the dangers of the job,” he said. “But nothing really prepares you for that 16-second interaction you have where someone is shooting at you … when you see the muzzle flashes 15 feet from you, and you’re — for the first time in your life — wondering, ‘Am I going to die?’”
Herndon, who imposed a prison sentence of up to 21 years, also praised the officers.
“You probably don’t view yourself as heroic as is being bandied around,” the judge told Hebb. “At the very least, it’s an incredibly decent act of humanity.”
Chafoya will be eligible for parole after spending a little more than seven years behind bars.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
