Las Vegas grand jury indicts sergeant accused of orchestrating fake arrests

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Clark County grand jury voted to indict a now-suspended Las Vegas police sergeant who is accused of orchestrating false arrests.

Metro police arrested Sgt. Kevin Menon, 42, on Friday, Aug. 30, at headquarters. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported Menon’s arrest. Menon was assigned to the department’s Tourist Safety Division.

The grand jury indicted Menon on several charges, including nine counts of oppression under color of office. Menon was out of custody in a Las Vegas Justice Court criminal case, which will now be dismissed pending the new case in district court.

Investigators within the department believe Menon orchestrated fake arrests by instigating situations with the public without probable cause, documents said. In one case, Menon ordered the search of a car without any reason, police said. In another, the sergeant, who often worked in a plain clothes capacity, intentionally collided with a person on a pedestrian bridge, leading to their arrest, police investigators allege.

Metro’s Internal Affairs Bureau believes the arrests may have been part of an attempt to skew crime statistics, documents said. The office received a complaint on May 15 from an officer within the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union representing Metro police officers. In the letter, the officer alleged Menon “was using ‘probably illegal tactics’ while dealing with the public,” documents said.

Menon was due to return to court on Oct. 23. The 8 News Now Investigators asked Menon about the allegations after he left a courtroom Wednesday morning. He declined to comment.

Defense attorneys Austin Barnum and Dominic Gentile are representing Menon. Gentile sent the 8 News Now Investigators the following statement:

“The State filed a complaint in this matter on Sept. 9 and Sgt. Menon immediately advanced the initial appearance and demanded his statutory right to a preliminary hearing within 15 days. The hearing was set for today and we fully expected that the state would produce its witnesses for a public hearing and allow for us to cross-examine them. We were prepared to do so today.  Apparently the state chose to avoid having their witnesses confronted and cross-examined and decided instead to proceed secretly through the Grand Jury. It begs the question, “Why”? What is it about a public proceeding that the state is concerned will be revealed about their witnesses and the weakness of their case?”

Dominic Gentile, attorney for Kevin Menon

After his arrest, the department placed Menon on leave with pay and his police powers were suspended pending an investigation. The department has since stopped paying him.

8 News Now Investigator David Charns and Vanessa Murphy can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.com and vmurphy@8newsnow.com .

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