In lawsuit, Henderson officer alleges he was retaliated against by his superiors

A Henderson Police Department officer filed an employment discrimination and retaliation lawsuit Wednesday against the city and the department following the alleged cover-up of a car wreck involving an officer in 2021.

In a 26-page complaint filed in Clark County District Court, Angelo Gomez alleges that he was “scapegoated” and “subjected to retaliatory discipline” and that he was “treated dramatically differently” from other officers who faced “similar or more serious misconduct charges,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit stems from the fallout from an April 2021 incident in which police responded to an off-duty crash involving Henderson officer Katherine Cochran. When officer Gomez responded to the scene, he “formed a reasonable suspicion that Officer Cochran was the driver and potentially under the influence of alcohol,” the lawsuit said.

However, Gomez’s supervisor, Sgt. John Bellow, “intervened” and “directed that only a traffic citation be issued to the other driver, effectively terminating any investigation” into a potential DUI charge for Cochran, the lawsuit said.

In December 2021, Gomez was put on administrative leave that lasted 18 months, the lawsuit said.

The charges

In 2022, the lawsuit states, then Deputy Chief Michael Blow issued charges against Gomez that included “conduct unbecoming, failure to complete an investigation” and a charge related to bringing “discredit to the department.” Blow recommended that Gomez be fired.

At a hearing in 2023, Blow, the suit says, backtracked on his recommendation to terminate Gomez, who returned to his department patrol duties on April 13, 2023.

In 2024, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that then-police Chief Hollie Chadwick ignored recommendations to fire Bellow, Cochran, and another officer, Marissa Myers, for lying and falsifying a police report.

During a July interview with a Review-Journal reporter, Chadwick defended herself, saying she “would never cover up a DUI.”

‘Credible evidence’

Gomez’s lawsuit states that he has “credible evidence” that the discriminatory treatment levied against him, he alleged, was “motivated, at least in part, by his protected class status.”

The suit lists Gomez as being part of three protected classes, which include his Hispanic/Latino race, his sexual orientation, as well as his status as a male. According to a Nevada Equal Rights Commission online fact sheet, state law “protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.”

The lawsuit cites another case involving a Henderson police officer — identified in the lawsuit only as officer McCarrick — who turned off his body camera while on duty. But unlike Gomez, McCarrick wasn’t put on administrative leave and wasn’t recommended for termination.

“Officer Gomez, who appropriately sought to investigate a potential DUI and deferred to his supervisor’s decision, was placed on 18 months of administrative leave and threatened with termination,” the lawsuit stated. “Officer McCarrick, who violated body camera requirements and defied established protocols, faced no administrative leave and no discipline.”

Gomez, according to the lawsuit, is asking for back pay and lost benefits, damages for loss of professional reputation, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and associated costs, among other demands.

Henderson officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Thursday night. A message for Gomez’s attorney, James Urrutia, was not immediately returned.