Nevada Governor Avoids Red-Light Ticket After Name-Dropping During Traffic Stop

A newly surfaced body camera recording captures Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo being pulled over during what began as a standard traffic stop, only for the encounter to end moments later after the Republican governor identified himself and left without receiving a ticket for an alleged red-light infraction.

The video, which runs about a minute, shows a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant stopping Lombardo’s pickup near Mandalay Bay on May 15. The officer said the governor had not fully stopped before turning right at a red light.

When the sergeant walks up to the passenger-side window, he offers a polite greeting to Lombardo.

“Hello. How you doing, sir?” the sergeant says.

But before the officer can fully lay out the reason for the stop, Lombardo cuts in.

“I’m Joe Lombardo,” the governor says.

“I’m aware,” the sergeant responds, then resumes his explanation: “For the red light violation back there. Your right turn onto Giles…”

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“C’mon, man,” Lombardo responds.

Moments later, the sergeant ends the stop without issuing a citation.

“You’re good to go, sir. Appreciate you. Have a good day.”

The exchange lasts roughly 15 seconds.

Lombardo’s office told INC News that the governor and his wife were on their way to Harry Reid International Airport when they were briefly stopped by Las Vegas police on May 15 over what the office described as “a question about whether Governor Lombardo had come to a complete stop while turning.”

“Governor Lombardo spoke with the officer, fully complied with all instructions, and was promptly on his way,” the statement said. “He remains grateful for the professionalism of the officer involved and for the service of law enforcement officers across Nevada.”

The governor’s office also disputed any suggestion that Lombardo was attempting to use his position to influence the officer by mentioning his name.

“At no point did the Governor invoke his office and seek — or expect — preferential treatment,” the statement said.

According to the governor’s office, the officer first introduced himself, and Lombardo replied by giving his own name “as a matter of courtesy.”

Lombardo, a Republican who served as sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for eight years before being elected governor in 2022, was traveling with his wife, Donna, at the time of the stop.

The video quickly drew criticism from Nevada Democrats, who questioned whether the governor received preferential treatment because of his position.

“As a former law enforcement officer, I’m outraged that Joe Lombardo thinks he’s above the law and dismissed a police officer just doing his job,” Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s clear that Lombardo’s ‘tough on crime’ approach doesn’t actually apply to him after he name dropped his way out of a traffic violation. Nevadans deserve to know if Lombardo thinks, because of his position, he should be able to avoid responsibility for breaking the law,” the statement continued.

The Las Vegas Police Protective Association, which endorsed Lombardo’s gubernatorial campaign in 2022 and backed him again this year, defended the handling of the stop after providing the bodycam video to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Union President Steve Grammas told the outlet the encounter reflected the type of discretion officers routinely use during traffic stops and rejected the suggestion that Lombardo received preferential treatment.

“It is an absolutely nothing car stop,” Grammas told the Review-Journal. “Thousands of those happen every month. We don’t write everybody a ticket.”

Grammas said the sergeant already recognized Lombardo as governor and former Clark County sheriff, making it unnecessary to spend time confirming his identity before explaining the alleged violation and ending the stop with a verbal warning.

“If he wasn’t the governor, no one would care about the hundreds of other stops that are done the same way,” Grammas said.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has previously said Lombardo was not cited, noting that officers commonly exercise discretion during minor traffic violations.

INC News reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Nevada Republican Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada for comment.