Published on: November 21, 2024, 08:06h.
Last updated on: November 21, 2024, 08:06h.
A Las Vegas police officer who was accused of orchestrating false arrests, mostly targeting Black men, allegedly tried to plant fake money on two individuals when confronting them at The Cromwell, as per court documents.
Sergeant Kevin Menon pleaded not guilty to possessing child pornography on Wednesday. When his home was searched in August, around 500 indecent images were discovered, some depicting the abuse of young girls. This search was part of the investigation into the alleged wrongful detentions he was involved in.
Racial Bias
Prior to his arrest, Menon was leading a team of officers on the Las Vegas Strip. Allegedly, he created fake situations that led to racially motivated detentions while dressed in plain clothes, with the rest of his team in uniform.
During the incident at The Cromwell, the partner of one of the victims called 911 to report the harassment, as per a transcript obtained by 8NewsNow.
“I guess we were racially profiled,” she told the operator. “We came in here to use the bathroom, the casino, and the police officers grabbed my fiancé and his friend, handcuffed him, slammed him against the wall, threw all his stuff out, and then said, ‘Oh, wrong person.'”
“What do you mean? You didn’t even get a chance to explain anything that was going on. You just suddenly handcuff people? We want to press charges,” she added.
Her fiancé also called 911: “I just got slammed against the wall for no reason. They threw all my things out of my bag.”
Police Misconduct
The security video from the casino revealed that before the calls, Menon, in plain clothes, tried to hand what turned out to be fake money to two patrons, who declined and walked away.
Subsequently, uniformed officers arrived, simulated arresting Menon, and then proceeded to handcuff and search the two men before letting them go, as shown in the video.
Some of Menon’s colleagues were troubled by his actions and reported him to the police union in Las Vegas, initiating the investigation.
Menon was arrested on August 30 and placed on unpaid leave. LVMPD has ceased his pay, as reported by 8NewsNow.
The trial for Menon’s possession of child sexual abuse material began on Wednesday, with a jury trial for the illegal detention charges scheduled for March.