On Wednesday (Feb. 7), it was announced that Officer Bret Theil, who has been with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department since 1998, had been indicted on charges related to the sexual abuse of a child. After his indictment was announced, Theil was involved in an armed standoff with LVMPD SWAT teams.
Update: Coincidentally (?), Theil was also one of the officers involved in (eventually) entering Stephen Paddock’s hotel room at the Mandalay Bay on October 1st during the Route 91 Festival Shooting. Obviously, that has led to speculation that Theil was set up with the sexual assault charges to keep him quiet about whatever he potentially saw. (Click here to view LVMPD report listing Officer Theil as one of two officers assigned to guard door to Paddock’s suite.)
Personally, I think if you want to keep someone from talking one of the worst strategies for that would be to set them up to face multiple life sentences in prison. The pretty much have nothing to lose at that point. Also, if you were trying to get rid of someone and you’re in the middle of an armed standoff with them, just killing them is about the best way to do that.
Basically, there are so many rapists, pedophiles, and domestic batterers within the LVMPD that the odds say at least one of them that was in that hallway (standing around for 75 minutes before they finally went in the room) was bound to be one.
That standoff took place at Corn Creek Canyon, a camping/hiking area about 23 miles outside of Las Vegas. Officer Theil lives in the suburb of North Las Vegas and the NLV police were initially conducting the standoff until it was determined he was an LVMPD officer and Metro took over. Beginning late Wednesday night, the “barricade situation” continued until early Thursday morning. Theil was described as being armed and suicidal.
Not many other details have been released about the standoff at this point. However, it was confirmed that Officer Theil was (of course) taken into custody without injury. He was then taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. From there he will be transferred to the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC).
Note: If you have videos, stories, upcoming events/protests, or personal interactions with the police (and/or “justice” system) that you would like to share, send them to us and we will do everything we can to bring it to the attention of the world. In addition, you can visit the Nevada Cop Block resources section for information and links to the rights of citizens when dealing with police, during which you should always be filming.
Not very many details have been released regarding the charges he was indicted on earlier in the day, either. It was reported that he was facing charges related to the sexual abuse of a child. The victim of those crimes, which took place over the span of several years, was also a family member. In addition, local media has reported that the victim had been receiving unspecified threats via email after Theil was notified of the impending indictment.
Currently, he faces six counts of first-degree kidnapping, five counts of lewdness with a child under 14, six counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14, four counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16, four counts of sexual assault, and two counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment.
The charges were filed by North Las Vegas police and include felony charges that carry the possibility of life sentences if he is convicted. Of course, the fact he is a cop means he will likely receive a very generous plea bargain offer. He’s probably more likely to receive probation than a long prison sentence. (As always, I’ll be following the case and providing updates.)
Metro Officer Involved in Domestic Disturbance
As indicated by the title of this post, Officer Theil apparently wasn’t the only cop to engage in an armed standoff within the past week. On Super Bowl Sunday, there was another incident in which a “suicidal man armed with multiple guns” barricaded himself in his house and also had to be coaxed out by a SWAT team. The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that he also was taken to a hospital for mental evaluation. There was no indication of what (or if) he would be charged with criminally.
Neither the LVMPD nor local media have officially identified the man involved yet. However, sources have stated that he is Metro Officer Jeffery M. Arrigo. Those sources also said that this standoff was the result of a domestic disturbance. Not surprisingly, given the high percentage of domestic violence among police (and the cover ups involved), Officer Arrigo already has a previous history of domestic abuse. In September of 2015, he was arrested on domestic battery charges.
SCOOP: An @lvmpd officer has been barricaded inside his house since early this morning.
Two SWAT vehicles, a fire truck, and hostage negotiators are on the scene trying to resolve the situation.
Neighbors were evacuated around 7 am this morning. #LasVegas pic.twitter.com/3UI3qtA2pq
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 4, 2018
Other Recent Incidents
It’s been a busy past couple of months for Las Vegas police officers involving sexual crimes and crimes against women:
- An LVMPD officer was sentenced to a year in prison for beating and falsely arresting a woman. He was originally charged because he recorded the beating on his own body camera.
- In another case, an ex-LVMPD cop was charged in the 1997 rape and murder of a woman after they finally got around to testing her rape kit. Of course, once details of his past sex crimes and of the murder itself were released it became pretty obvious there was enough evidence to charge him twenty years ago, even without the DNA evidence.
- It was also revealed in late January that the Chief of Police in Henderson (a suburb of Las Vegas) and his second in command were fired for sexual harassment. Prior to that, the City of Henderson (whose mayor is also under investigation) had covered up the actual reason and portrayed their resignations as a “voluntary separation.”
- And just for good measure there was an incident in which a Metro detective accidentally fired his weapon and injured a tourist on the Strip during New Years. Detective Al Beas was once part of the LVMPD’s vice squad, which was celebrated for saving women from sex trafficking until it was revealed that they were themselves raping those women and being paid protection money by pimps to shut down their competition.
And that’s just since the beginning of this year.
Related Posts
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Kelly is a lifelong resident of Las Vegas, who’s been very active in local grassroots activism, as well as on a national level during his extensive travels. He’s also the founder/main contributor of Nevada Cop Block, served as editor/contributor at CopBlock.org and designed the Official Cop Block Press Passes.
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Kelly your a complete Cop hater. It’s people like you that drive a wedge between cops and the public. My brothers are cops and they worry about the public abusing them and the command staff waiting to make an example of them . The only ones “protected” are the command. Even that’s limited, the press can’t be controled. Rank and file cops are fare game and will be prosecuted in a second. You’ve got it twisted sister.
No, it’s all the cops committing sexual assaults (and all the other crimes) that drive a wedge between them and the public, not someone pointing out that they did that.