LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The fallout continues from a traffic stop where Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo was pulled over by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for a red light violation and not cited.
After the video went viral, a complaint was filed against Lombardo with the Nevada Commission on Ethics.
Channel 13 obtained a copy of the complaint, in which the Reno man who filed it states Lombardo's behavior was "unbecoming of a public official" and that Lombardo violated NRS 281A.400(2), which states:
"A public officer or employee shall not use the public officer's or employee's position in government to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, preferences, exemptions or advantages for the public officer or employee, any business entity in which the public officer or employee has a significant pecuniary interest or any person to whom the public officer or employee has a commitment in a private capacity."
The complainant, Zachary Miller, spoke with our ABC affiliate in Reno and said seeing the video of Lombardo's traffic stop was "frustrating."
WATCH | Questions grow over Gov. Joe Lombardo traffic stop, campaign sign vandalism
"Basically, get away with being pulled over. It made me so frustrated," Miller said. "What also stood out to me was that he used his name, which was pretty shocking to me, and that the officer was just blatantly interrupted. He wasn't able to talk to Lombardo about what he did and about what the situation was about and what the process was from there."
More concerns are now surfacing in connection with a campaign sign.
Campaign sign vandalism is not uncommon during election cycles. But when one of Lombardo's signs was recently vandalized, it prompted a police investigation.
13 Investigates received a photo from a source close to Las Vegas law enforcement. It's been posted on multiple social media accounts in the past 24 hours.
The photo shows the defaced campaign sign on a wall at the top of a rocky slope along the 215 beltway near Flamingo Road. It appears to show six people from both LVMPD and the Clark County Fire Department using a ladder to dust the sign for fingerprints where a vandal posted the words "C'mon Man."
Those words stem from the viral body camera video from Lombardo's May traffic stop, in which the following dialogue is heard.
OFFICER: Hello. How you doing sir?
LOMBARDO: Good.
OFFICER: Good. I'm Sgt. Pacheco, Metro Police. The reason I'm stopping you is for the...
LOMBARDO: I'm Joe Lombardo.
OFFICER: I'm aware...for the red light violation back there. Your right turn onto Giles here.
LOMBARDO: Oh, come on man.
OFFICER: You're good to go sir. Appreciate you. Have a good day.
Though Lombardo's campaign and the police union have denied any ethics violation or favorable treatment, the governor has faced criticism for the interaction, with some saying he used his position to get out of a citation.
Now, he's facing similar criticism online for the campaign sign vandalism investigation.
Social media commenters on X called it "a waste of our tax dollars."
We reached out to Lombardo's campaign, to LVMPD, and to the Clark County Fire Department with the following questions:
- Why did this particular vandalism spark an investigation?
- Who requested the investigation?
- How often does Metro dust vandalized political signs for fingerprints?
- Who requested assistance from the Clark County Fire Department and why?
- Can other candidates for public office who have their campaign signs/billboards vandalized request a similar criminal investigation?
- Has Metro identified a suspect or made any arrests?
Lombardo's campaign issued the following statement:
"Governor Lombardo did not ask Metro to investigate the vandalism, and he has not spoken with anyone at Metro about the sign vandalism. Metro independently started the investigation. Any further question on the details of the investigation, we refer you to Metro."
A Clark County spokesperson responded that officials are looking into Channel 13's inquiry. LVMPD did not respond by our deadline for this reporting.
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