NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Four police settlements in three jurisdictions over the past four months have cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars.
Another jurisdiction has joined the list after a North Las Vegas marshal falsely arrested a local Army veteran.
WATCH: North Las Vegas pays $25K after marshal falsely arrests Army vet
You know the saying, "You can't fight city hall?" Well, meet Army veteran Kenny Smith.
His battle with North Las Vegas started on March 12.
Two city marshals showed up to serve what they said was a no-bail warrant. We can't show you the arrest because the court marshals weren't equipped with body cameras. Police records show Smith was "placed in double locked handcuffs" and taken towards jail. However, surveillance video shows the vehicle never entered.
He said he kept insisting there was no warrant.
"I sat outside, in their vehicle, handcuffed," Smith told me. "I was like, it can't be. It's impossible. There's no way."
It turns out, he was right. Records show Chief Marshal Andy Popovsky didn't verify the warrant until after Smith challenged it on the way to jail.
"And then, when he realized that he couldn't verify it, they drove me back home," Smith said.
The chief marshal's report saID he "apologized for the inconvenience." Back home, Smith called for an explanation.
"He tells me that the city is transitioning to a new system," Smith told me.
"And you were a glitch?" I asked.
"Yes," Smith said. "A new system, I guess they spent a lot of money on. Tax-funded as well."
"That resulted in, essentially, a false arrest," I said.
"Yes."
Smith also noticed something odd on the warrant.
"Written beside my address, it said the word test," he said.
North Las Vegas officials would not speak to us on camera but confirmed in a statement that "a court employee inadvertently accessed the training version" of the court's new case management system and found "a warrant that appeared to be active." The city calls it an isolated incident.
The new JWORKS system cost taxpayers more than $1.1 million.
We repeatedly asked why the warrant wasn't verified before Smith was handcuffed and taken into custody. The city never answered.
"I knew it was wrong. I told myself, I think I'm going to try to do something about it," Smith said. "Because there's other people out there like me who might not have the ability to push back."
Smith filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of North Las Vegas and the individual marshals, alleging false arrest and false imprisonment. Through discovery, Kenny found two versions of the same police report with the same date and time stamp: one saying the warrant couldn't be confirmed, the other version saying it had been initially confirmed through the new system. The second report also removed the apology.
"I feel like they tried to create, change the narrative," Smith said.
The city denies that claim. In its court filings, the city also argued Smith was partially responsible for his own wrongful arrest because his information was in the system due to a separate pending criminal case.
"What sense did that make to you?" I asked.
"None at all, except for that they're trying to cover for themselves," Smith said.
Smith also points to text messages sent by a North Las Vegas deputy city attorney to his ex-girlfriend about the pending criminal case. Court records show Deputy City Attorney Suzanne Berube Rorhus sent the texts from her personal phone, telling the woman, "I'm asking for a warrant for your arrest in the Smith case ... Do you want to self-surrender or risk being handcuffed in front of your daughter?"
The woman responded: "I don't want to appear and I don't want to press charges" — "Please leave me alone."
"If the city threatens you to do something that you don't want to do, that's coercion," Smith said. "So far, North Las Vegas is showing me how corrupt it is."
Earlier this month, representing himself, Smith settled his federal civil rights case for $25,000. The city's criminal case against him remains open. However, the deputy city attorney and the entire North Las Vegas City Attorney's Office have been removed from the case, which is now being handled by a special prosecutor.
We asked North Las Vegas about the text messages, its policy on using personal phones to contact witnesses, and whether any discipline was imposed. The city did not respond.
"A situation like this can't be tolerated," Smith said. "I'm sure if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone."
There is still no trial date in the misdemeanor domestic battery case. Smith said he'll continue fighting it and we'll continue tracking the outcome.
