Nevada man files ethics complaint against Lombardo over traffic stop

A Nevada voter lodged a state ethics complaint against Gov. Joe Lombardo, alleging that he used his position in government to secure unwarranted privileges during a traffic stop in Las Vegas.

Zach Miller, a Reno resident, filed the complaint with the Nevada Commission on Ethics on Friday, according to a copy he provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Days earlier, police body-camera footage emerged showing Lombardo after he was pulled over by a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant in May for a suspected violation of failing to come to a full stop at a red light before making a turn.

During the brief interaction, the governor interrupted the officer, saying, “I’m Joe Lombardo,” and later said, “Come on, man.” The Metro sergeant subsequently let Lombardo go without a ticket.

Miller, who said he recently started learning how local government works, added that he learned about the ethics commission process after watching the footage in news stories.

“It looked like Joe Lombardo had used the power of his name against the police officer, and I couldn’t sit by idly and just do nothing about it, in a sense,” he told the Review-Journal Wednesday.

‘He cooperated fully’

Lombardo’s campaign has repeatedly denied that the governor — Metro’s former sheriff — or the officer engaged in any wrongdoing.

“Governor Lombardo and his wife were briefly pulled over by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, he cooperated fully with the officer, and the matter was resolved with the same routine professional discretion Metro officers exercise in tens of thousands of traffic stops every year,” the campaign reiterated Tuesday.

It declined to comment on the ethics complaint.

Current Sheriff Kevin McMahill told the Review-Journal that he was OK with the officer’s actions, adding that the sergeant used discretion as many others regularly do.

Metro officers have conducted about 210,000 traffic stops this year, issuing citations about 140,000 times, McMahill said last week.

“Just the data in and of itself tells you that there are 60,000 instances or more of discretion utilized by police officers on the scene, so I don’t see it as all that different than what occurs on a daily basis,” McMahill said.

Miller says complaint wasn’t driven by politics

The explanations didn’t stop state and national Democrats from turning the footage into political fodder, launching attacks against the Republican governor who is running for re-election this year.

Miller, who recently earned a mathematics doctorate from the University of Nevada, Reno, said that while he won’t vote for Lombardo in November, his motivation for filing the complaint wasn’t political and that he acted independently of any political organization.

Miller said that he instead was influenced by a traffic stop of his own while traveling between Reno and Las Vegas, which resulted in a citation.

He said that he had to sit calmly, answer questions and accept the ticket.

“I had to pay for it,” he said. “It was not very fun.”

In his filing, Miller summarized the body-camera footage.

“Lombardo’s behavior is unbecoming of a public official, since as he used his position and standing as Nevada’s Governor to not only intimidate the officer, but also to unlawfully use his position to secure and grant unwarranted privileges, preferences, exemptions and advantages for his personal benefit,” Miller wrote, citing the ethics statute.

In most cases, the ethics commission does not confirm or deny the existence of complaints, which are initially confidential, it noted Wednesday.

The commission said that a review panel determines whether there is enough cause in any complaint for the body to issue an opinion on the matter.

If so, panel determinations and final opinions are subject to public disclosure, the commission added.