Las Vegas cop behind bars after being caught on video inciting crimes to make false arrests of mostly black men

A Las Vegas police sergeant is facing several charges for alleged orchestration multiple unlawful arrests of black men, violating their civil rights.

This is evident from court documents obtained by CLASSsergeant. Kevin Menon is accused of abusing his power and making several false arrests after provoking incidents with the public.

He has been charged with nine counts of oppression under the color of office, two counts of oppression for perjury, oppression under the color of office with imminent threat or use of physical force, and battery on a protected officer.

In April and May, Menon headed a specialized unit that conducted crime sweeps on the Las Vegas Strip. During those operations he was dressed in civilian clothes, while his colleagues were in uniform.

Bodycam and surveillance footage shows Menon and several Las Vegas police officers stopping, frisking several men and making multiple arrests during those operations. Several individuals can be heard on video expressing confusion as to why they are being taken into custody.

“Why am I going to jail?” During one arrest, a man is heard asking an officer.

In another incident, Menon is seen on surveillance video running into a man who appeared to have a knife larger than allowed on the Las Vegas strip. Bodycam videoo shows Menon accusing the man of wanting to ‘fight someone’ right after checking him on the shoulder.

“He bumped into me and then you were right behind me,” the man complained as he was handcuffed. “It was a set-up.”

In another incident, Menon was seen on surveillance video trying to give two men fraudulent bills, but they rejected his offer. Two officers then handcuff Menon and pretend to detain him, then return and search the men Menon approaches. They were released after one of them demanded to speak to a supervisor, and Menon returned in a police jacket.

Menon was also seen on bodycam footage pushing a colleague who was unaware he was the sergeant on duty during an operation.

“I’m the damn sergeant, you idiot,” a casually dressed Menon can be heard telling the officer.

Las Vegas police did not learn of Menon’s behavior until May 15, when the Internal Affairs Bureau received a letter accusing Menon of abuse of power.

The letter was written by a city officer, according to charging documents PoliCE Protective Associationwhich alleged that Menon used “potentially illegal tactics” in his dealings with the public.”

Several officers testified against Menon, stating that the sergeant had fabricated citizen arrest scenarios that they carried out under his direction. They added that Menon then directed them to amend the police reports.

“Sgt. Menon gave it back to us and said something along the lines of how we need to change, like the story and saying that the person we arrested deliberately bumped into another citizen and he tried to explain how the knife in the fight could have been used and the civilian who killed Sgt. Menon meant to be himself, but he did not want his name included in the report,” Officer Justin Candolesas said. said. “It sounded like the most illegal thing a sergeant could do.”

Another officer recalled an incident in which four people were taken into custody without probable cause after Menon accused them of making lewd and inappropriate comments to women near a toilet.

“He didn’t want to be included in the reports and he sent our reports back to have them changed in our incident reporting system, essentially including his name and those of the lieutenant and the captain even though they would probably tell us provided with cause or reasonable suspicion,” Officer Abbygail Armijo said, adding that Menon would do that all the time stands“The captain has my back.”

Most of the men taken into custody were black, court documents show. Investigators believe the arrests may have been part of a scheme to distort crime statistics.

No other officer was arrested. Menon has been suspended without pay while the case is pending.