Henderson Police on Friday night released video footage they say shows an incident in which a pair of officers are hit by a car before one of them fires at the driver, wounding him.
Sunday night’s shooting — which began when Officer Eric Nielsen observed suspicious activity in the parking lot of 2667 Windmill Parkway — led to a manhunt that ended less than 24 hours later with the arrest of Larry Calvert, 27.
The images from the brief altercation between Nielsen and Calvert and the subsequent shooting, which were captured on the officer’s body-worn camera, are shaky.
But, according to police, the lives of Nielsen and an assisting officer were in “imminent jeopardy” when Calvert put his Toyota Camry in motion and began to flee, eventually striking them both.
Calvert, who’d ignored Nielsen’s commands to exit the car shortly after 8 p.m., all of a sudden ignited the engine, police said. When he set it in reverse, he pinned Nielsen, who was trying to stop him, with the door, “with no means to escape,” police said.
Nielsen moved back, freeing himself, but his foot was run over as the car continued in reverse, police said. That’s when he fired his gun three times.
The second officer also was hit as the car reversed, police said.
The video, which clocks in at under two minutes, does partly show the encounter before Calvert tried to flee. That portion of the video is clear.
With a flashlight pointed at Calvert, Nielsen questions him about his identity. “Did you give me the right info, bro?” the officer said, warning him that falsehoods could lead to a felony charge.
Calvert at some point apparently told Nielsen that his name was “Joey,” which wasn’t popping up in state records, the officer told him.
“It should,” Calvert said. The officer then directs his attention to a female passenger, later identified as Marcella Levia, 26, and asks for her identification.
She tinkers in her purse while Nielsen tells the driver to get out and go toward the back of the car. “Am I arrested?”
“You’re not under arrest,” Nielsen states, his tone intensifying. “If you take off, I’m going to knock you the (expletive) out.”
Just as he said that, Calvert put the car in motion, maneuvering the wheel until he peeled off. Three gunshot blasts could be heard.
A local-federal police task force arrested Calvert the next day in a northwest valley neighborhood. He’d been hit by at least two bullets, and Levia, who was still with him, was apparently injured by the car, police said.
Both were hospitalized, police said. Calvert had undergone surgery and Levia was in stable condition earlier this week.
Calvert faces two counts of battery with a deadly weapon, police said.