Police Officer Throttled During Sunday’s Crowd Disturbance on Las Vegas Strip

• Officer placed in chokehold during late-night Las Vegas Strip disturbance
• Police used Taser after suspect resisted arrest during crowd unrest
  
• Confusion remains over cause of incident and number of arrests

A police officer was throttled by a member of the public during a large crowd disturbance on the Las Vegas Strip in the early hours of Sunday, newly filed court documents reveal.

The “unruly crowd” gathered not outside Paris Las Vegas, as previously reported by Casino.org, but closer to the entrance of Planet Hollywood, according to the filings. When police responded to reports of a disturbance at around 12:30 am, “multiple people” began throwing bottles and refused to leave the area when ordered to do so.

Suspect Tasered

Officers attempted to detain those involved. As one officer, identified in the report as M. Newson, tried to make an arrest, another man — Jose Aviles of California — approached him from behind and placed him in a chokehold, the report states.

One of these individuals approached me from behind and applied what I recognized as a rear-naked chokehold to my neck in an attempt to choke me while I was still engaged with the original subject,” Newson wrote.

Another officer was able to pull Aviles away, but he continued to resist and was eventually subdued with a Taser and arrested. Jail records show it was Aviles’ birthday.

It remains unclear what initially caused the disturbance. Police said in a statement early Monday that the crowd had gathered to watch “a performance,” without elaborating.

Heavy Presence

Witnesses at the time reported a heavy police presence on the Strip, which was temporarily cordoned off, with one person estimating that as many as 100 police vehicles were involved. Video footage also showed a police helicopter hovering overhead, its spotlight trained on the ground as officers converged on the area.

He was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he posted bail and was released. Police said no injuries were reported.