LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We’re now hearing about the man who was arrested on the Las Vegas Strip in May after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said one of its own sergeants bumped into him to incite a aggressive response.

Subway sergeant suspended. Kevin Menon, 42, faces charges in two separate criminal cases.

Marquise Brown spoke exclusively to Channel 13 about her arrest on the pedestrian walkway between Caesars Palace and the Bellagio on May 3.
Brown, 31, is originally from Fresno, California, and had just moved to the Las Vegas Valley a week before his arrest.

“I was walking on the bridge and enjoying my night,” Brown said. “All of a sudden I feel a hard bump, like, you know, in my shoulder on my right side.”

He told Channel 13 he moved to Las Vegas in hopes of embarking on a new chapter.

“I graduated. I never got in trouble,” Brown said. “I have a license, a clean record, I’m just out here trying to make an honest living.

Video surveillance from the Bellagio appears to show Menon swerving out of his path to collide with Brown.

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“He looks like a pedestrian, but he looks angry. He looks crazy. I don’t know what his problem is,” Brown said. “He turns around, raises his hand and says, ‘Do you have a problem?’ »

Brown said he was trying to record the situation and when he asked “Do you have a problem?” Back in Menon, it was then that two agents arrested him.

He said he didn’t know Menon was a sergeant until he saw Channel 13’s coverage of the story.

Meno was indicted in October by a Clark County grand jury on several counts, including oppression under color of law.

Surveillance videos and Metro body camera footage were presented to the grand jury. During Brown’s arrest, you can hear him tell officers that another man had hit him.

Officers Justin Candolesas and Stephen Cosaro handcuffed Brown that night and testified to the grand jury that they saw Brown openly carrying a knife, which is not allowed by Clark County ordinance.

WATCH | Bodycam footage shows Sgt. Menon’s Alleged Arrest Tactics, Other Cops Testify

Bodycam footage shows Sgt. Menon’s Alleged Arrest Tactics, Other Cops Testify

Both officers said they heard Brown say to Menon, “Do you have a problem?” » and we were afraid Brown would fight.

But Brown said he was not a violent person and the knife was an accessory he wore.

“I had a knife, yes, but the knife wasn’t meant for anything, you know, not even to protect me,” Brown said. “Basically, it’s a leather sheath for the knife. And I just tie it to the side, like a cowboy.

After the arrest, Brown said he was taken to jail and showed up in court the next day. According to Las Vegas Justice Court records, Brown was facing a misdemeanor charge for illegal weapons acts in the Strip corridor, but the charge was dropped in July.

“The whole process from the time I was arrested to the time they let me go was just a pain in the butt, man, a pain in the butt,” Brown said. “It was a long process. It was a waste of time.

Brown’s arrest was just one of several incidents presented to the grand jury in the case against Menon. According to police documents, the arrests made primarily involved black men.

“I felt like I was being trapped, but targeted is like a harsh word,” Brown said. “It’s just like reality, yes, I was targeted.”

Brown now wants justice and hopes his side of the story sheds light.

“I didn’t want this situation to make me bitter. I wanted to learn from it, so I just focused and tried to move on,” Brown said.

He said the experience changed his view of law enforcement in Las Vegas and he hopes other officers who worked alongside Menon will also be held accountable.

“I feel like they played a very important role in it. They had as much to do with it as the sergeant,” Brown said. “If they felt, somehow in their hearts, that it was wrong, they didn’t have to do it.”

Currently, no other officers from Menon’s Flex Squad are facing charges.

Menon is expected to appear in court for an arraignment on his criminal indictment on November 6.