by: Ryan Matthey
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Days after a video of a man overpowering a Las Vegas police officer reached thousands online, the district attorney points to what’s yet to be released of the crime on camera.
The Las Vegas valley has already seen a lot of Clyde Cabulisan since Halloween night, but not in court, despite his first scheduled appearance on Thursday morning. The 29-year-old remains in the hospital after allegedly stealing a police vehicle and injuring two others.
“The video only tells part of the story,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in his Downtown Las Vegas office Thursday morning.
The arrest report obtained by 8 News Now said police first arrived at the intersection of Blue Diamond Road and Buffalo Drive after 11:00 p.m. Tuesday night, finding naked Cabulisan walking in the middle of the road “trying to get hit by vehicles.” The viral video showed the following battle with the officer at an intersection east of Blue Diamond and Cimarron roads.
After turning on his emergency lights “to prevent vehicles from hitting Cabulisan,” Officer W. Catricala is reported to have exited his Ford F-150 after the 29-year-old approached the driver-side door. The fight continued when the officer directed Cabulisan to the front of the vehicle and instead was punched “several times.”
Despite being able to pull Cabulisan out of the driver’s seat the first time, he was unsuccessful the second time and chose to disengage when the car began moving forward.
The officer is reported to have suffered minor injuries during the altercation with Cabulisan. The arrest report later cites officers who believe the suspect was driving up to 80 mph and sometimes driving in the wrong travel lanes for over six miles before colliding with an occupied vehicle at Hacienda Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard around 11:15 p.m. Cabulisan then allegedly fled the collision “immediately” on foot before two other officers detained him roughly 100 yards north of the accident.
“Why was he running around in the intersection naked? I mean, everybody wants to know that,” Wolfson said.
Officers believed the 29-year-old was impaired due to his “erratic movements, the fact he stole a marked LVMPD police truck with its emergency lights activated and was completely naked fighting with officers.” This was further confirmed when Cabulisan’s brother told officers he may have ingested cocaine and marijuana at an earlier party that induced a “mental breakdown.”
Thursday morning, Cabulisan awoke to new charges of DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm, reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, and duty to stop at the scene of the accident. He already faced charges of robbery, driver disobeying peace officer and endangering other persons/property, grand larceny of a vehicle, and battery of a protected person.
“If you get into an accident, you have a duty to stop and either render aid, plus provide information to the authorities – your driver’s license, registration, proof of insurance. He didn’t do that,” Wolfson said.
The two occupants inside the vehicle hit remain in the hospital Thursday: 43-year-old Ricoh Abrera and 34-year-old Ritz Gallemit.
Abrera told 8 News Now reporter Ryan Matthey over the phone that he is suffering from a fractured neck, breathing problems, seatbelt lashes, stomach bruising, hip damage, constant dizziness, and bodily feeling loss in his right side. He was sitting in the passenger seat, the same side of the car LVMPD say was hit.
Gallemit, the driver, had to be cut out of her seatbelt to be removed from the vehicle and was later found with internal bleeding, the arrest report said.
“Sometimes (injuries like these) causes you to lose your job or be out of work for a long time, not to mention the physical pain. I mean, people get injured, and the people who cause these injuries need to suffer consequences,” Wolfson said.
The arrest report also stated that field sobriety tests were not performed as Cabulisan “continuously” resisted arrest. Results of blood draw taken at the hospital were not immediately available Thursday.
When asked if a competency hearing would be requested, Wolfson said that is the decision of Cabulisan’s legal team. It is unclear if he obtained council by Thursday.
Cabulisan remains at UMC with “a laceration to his head and a brain bleed.” His first court appearance was rescheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 7. Court documents show he’s involved in two separate cases: bail was set at $32,000 for the patrol car theft while bail has yet to be set for the crash.
