Man accused of throwing rocks at Nevada Highway Patrol ID’d
A man who was shot at and shocked with a Taser on Friday by the Nevada Highway Patrol after throwing rocks at troopers has been identified.
Steve Garcia, 28, faces four felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon in addition to three misdemeanor counts of discharging a weapon in a public place in connection with throwing the rocks. A felony narcotics charge also indicates Garcia may have been under the influence of a drug at the time.
Highway Patrol spokesman Jason Buratczuk said Tuesday that Garcia was not armed with a gun.
Garcia was arrested Friday following the incident with the troopers near U.S. Highway 95 and the Eastern Avenue offramp. He was released on his own recognizance the next day as he awaits a status hearing in the case on Oct. 14.
Buratczuk has said that troopers encountered Garcia about 12:20 a.m. Friday while investigating reports of a pedestrian possibly suffering a medical episode. When they arrived, Garcia had apparently begun throwing rocks at the troopers.
Garcia then ran from the troopers, who lost sight of him, Buratczuk said. But a Metropolitan Police Department helicopter helped locate him just north of the highway at Eastern and Cedar avenues.
There, the man refused troopers’ commands, and a trooper fired one round but missed, Buratczuk said. Another trooper then stepped in with a Taser, and the man was taken into custody.
No other details have been released, including what prompted the trooper to open fire. Buratczuk said body camera footage is expected to be released next week.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.