Armed man was ‘really intoxicated’ when he pointed weapon at strangers

Previously unreleased 911 audio recordings made public Thursday revealed that a Sandy Valley resident was “really intoxicated” and believed he was “being followed” when he pointed a loaded gun at a stranger in May outside a Nevada Highway Patrol substation in Jean.

“Tensions were high,” Las Vegas police detective Blake Penny said Thursday during a public review of the case held in the Clark County Commission chambers.

Seconds later, Highway Patrol troopers Jared Ramm and Sean Dobbins shot and killed the man, 51-year-old James Pease. At the time, according to a toxicology report, Pease’s blood alcohol level was .205 — more than two times the legal limit for drivers of .08 in Nevada.

“He was ordered twice to drop the gun,” Penny said Thursday, “but the decedent did not comply.”

Penny was not present at the time of the May 7, 2020, shooting but led an investigation into the troopers’ deadly use of force. Penny’s investigative report was later submitted for review to the Clark County district attorney’s office, which has determined it will not pursue criminal charges against Ramm and Dobbins.

Neither trooper testified during Thursday’s case review. In Clark County, such reviews are scheduled after the district attorney’s office deems a fatal police shooting or in-custody death justified.

Had Pease survived, Penny said, he would have faced charges of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting a public officer with a deadly weapon.

Just before 5:50 p.m. on the day of Pease’s death, a man — identified by Penny only as “M.H.” — called 911 to report that he was being held at gunpoint by a stranger near the Terrible’s Hotel & Casino in Jean.

“I’ve never seen this guy,” M.H. told the dispatcher. “He’s stating that I’m following him. Nobody’s following him.”

M.H. later told investigators that he and a friend were driving in separate pickup trucks on Interstate 15, headed toward Jean, when they noticed an erratic driver chasing them. The two pulled off the highway to call 911.

“He’s got a gun pointed right at me,” M.H. said when the dispatcher answered his call.

Eventually, the two friends were able to drive away, and M.H. pulled into the parking lot of a nearby gas station. Pease followed M.H., according to surveillance footage captured by the gas station’s security cameras.

M.H. stayed on the phone with the dispatcher.

“He’s really intoxicated or something,” M.H. said.

The surveillance footage, played Thursday for the public, showed Pease tailing M.H. through the gas station parking lot.

“He took off. He’s following my friend now,” M.H. relayed to the dispatcher. “He hit my friend, he hit my friend!”

During that brief chase, the man’s friend — identified by Penny as “J.V.” — led Pease into the parking lot of the Highway Patrol’s Jean substation.

Once in the parking lot, according to body camera videos, Pease exited his pickup truck, reached for a gun in his waistband and aimed the gun at J.V.

Ramm and Dobbins, who both happened to be in the parking lot, opened fire at 5:55 p.m., according to the time stamps on the body camera videos.

Pease’s family members attended Thursday’s case review but declined to speak to the Las Vegas Review-Journal for this story. They did not ask any questions during the review.

As their family member’s last moments were displayed on two large television monitors, one of them sobbed.

Little is known about Pease, but Penny, the detective, said Thursday that the man did not have a criminal history. Prior to the chase and the shooting, he had been visiting a friend in Sandy Valley.

“Decedent was intoxicated prior to arrival and only had one beer,” according to Penny. “Decedent seemed angry about current events.”

Pease’s friend asked him “to go home and sleep it off.”

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