Officer’s level of force ‘appropriate’ during arrest, police department says
Las Vegas police said an officer “used an appropriate amount of force” in August when he took a Los Angeles woman into custody outside a Strip nightclub.
The Metropolitan Police Department issued a statement regarding officer Shawn Izzo on Friday, a day after a surveillance video of the incident was released by the woman’s lawyer.
“After reviewing the unadulterated, unedited video footage of the incident, we concluded our officer used an appropriate amount of force to resolve the situation and take the suspect into custody,” according to the statement. “The officer was found to have been operating within the guidelines of policy and the internal investigation was subsequently closed.”
The department receives dozens of lawsuits each year, according to the statement, “and as responsible stewards of our taxpayer funded budget, we will continue to aggressively defend lawful actions by our employees.”
Police said they would make no further comment regarding the incident.
Ariana Mason, 21, of Los Angeles filed a civil rights lawsuit Wednesday that accuses Izzo of using excessive force. Mason claims Izzo choked her and smashed her face into a glass table top after an event at 1 OAK Nightclub inside The Mirage.
According to the lawsuit, an altercation broke out “between people associated with the event and security officers.”
Attorney Brent Bryson, who represents Mason, said she punched Izzo after he grabbed her from behind and placed her in a choke hold without identifying himself. Bryson said the woman was handcuffed when the officer slammed her face into the table.
“Once Ariana was handcuffed with her hands behind her back, she was not a threat,” the attorney said at a Thursday news conference.
Mason was charged with battery on a protected officer, but prosecutors later dismissed the charge.
A Metro spokesman said Izzo’s employment began in July 2006, and the officer is currently assigned to the Northwest Area Command patrol division.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL