Prosecutor: Henderson officer charged with DUI an ‘extreme danger’
Prosecutors were awaiting blood tests for a Henderson police officer accused of driving under the influence and heading the wrong way down U.S. Highway 95.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum said Monday that she would wait until Thursday to consider bail for Joseph Lawrance, who was arrested last week on 11 charges, including DUI, giving a false statement to police, driving the wrong way and possessing a controlled substance.
Prosecutor Brian Rutledge said the 31-year-old Lawrance lead Nevada Highway Patrol troopers on a high-speed chase early Thursday morning after he was reported driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 95 near Durango Drive. As troopers pursued Lawrance, he ran a red light and drove the wrong way on other streets, Rutledge said.
Lawrance initially refused to follow orders from troopers, who fired a Taser stun gun at Lawrance but did not strike him, the prosecutor said.
The troopers found a loaded gun and hundreds of prescription pills inside Lawrance’s Toyota Tundra, along with an open bottle of whiskey.
Lawrance refused breathalyzer testing at the scene, and troopers obtained a search warrant for a blood test. The results of that test should be ready by Thursday, Rutledge said.
His defense lawyer, Josh Tomsheck, called the incident “clearly an aberration,” and said he would ask to have Lawrance released on his own recognizance.
Rutledge asked the judge for a $300,000 bail, saying Lawrance was an “extreme danger to the community.”
“How there could be a greater danger to the community, I don’t know,” Rutledge said. “That is about as high as you can get.”
Lawrance was a sergeant for the College of Southern Nevada police before joining the Henderson police department in 2012, according to public employee payroll records.
Lawrance was on paid administrative leave, according to a Henderson spokeswoman.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker.
