WCDA OIS Report

Report Detailing September 23, 2018 Officer Involved Shooting Incident Involving Phillip Serrano and the Reno Police Department

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks has determined that the September 23, 2018 Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) of Phillip Serrano, age 44, from Reno, by officers with the Reno Police Department was justified under Nevada law. The shooting occurred after three calls for service involving disturbances at Serrano’s home placed by family over his drug use and increasingly erratic behavior. In the third call, Serrano was reportedly overdosing on methamphetamine and possibly suicidal. When officers responded, Serrano was located near his vehicle before he entered it and engaged in a lengthy standoff, which ended in the shooting after he drove the vehicle towards surrounding officers. Serrano was hit numerous times by multiple officers and ultimately succumbed to his injuries after being transported to the hospital.

Consistent with this office’s ongoing public reporting on all OIS cases, District Attorney Hicks has released a detailed 48-page report containing the facts of the case, photographs, identification of those involved, witness accounts, and his legal analysis. This conclusion is based on an extensive review of the investigation conducted by the Sparks Police Department, which was submitted to this office on July 29, 2020. Unless new circumstances come to light that contradict the factual foundation upon which this decision was made, this case is officially closed. Copies of all completed OIS reports are available on the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office’s website at https://www.washoecounty.us/da/newsroom/reports.php Inquiries regarding the release of any public records involving the investigation and its evidence can be directed to the involved law enforcement agencies.       

Introduction of the Report:

On the evening of September 23, 2018, multiple Reno Police Department (hereinafter “RPD”) Officers responded to 9665 Thornridge Court on three separate occasions. The calls for the police were due to the actions of Phillip Serrano (hereinafter “Serrano”) and were all made by his sister, Michelle Mascarenas-Tripp (hereinafter “Mascarenas-Tripp”) with whom he lived along with her husband Jason Tripp (hereinafter “Tripp”) and their three-year-old daughter. Substantial Body Worn Camera (hereinafter “BWC”) footage was collected as part of the investigation and captured the initial responses and the shooting.

The first call for service was at 6:49 p.m. and was due to Serrano being high on methamphetamine and causing a disturbance in the house. The second 911 call, was placed less than an hour after the first, and was due to Tripp and Serrano being involved in a disturbance over Serrano’s drug use in the house. RPD Officers responded each time and spoke with Mascarenas-Tripp, Tripp, and Serrano. In these two calls, officers made no arrests. However, they did gather information that Serrano was high on methamphetamine, agitated, and potentially prone to fighting with police. A subsequent toxicology test showed that Serrano had 2,800 nanograms per milliliter of methamphetamine in his blood, 28 times the Driving Under the Influence limit in Nevada.

At 9:46 p.m., Mascarenas-Tripp called 911 for the third time. This time, she advised Serrano was possibly suicidal and overdosing on methamphetamine. It was further reported to RPD officers that Serrano was having trouble breathing and had possibly ingested bleach. Several officers responded to the call. RPD Officer Josh Sanford (hereinafter “Officer Sanford”) was the first to arrive at 9:57 p.m., followed by additional RPD officers.

On arrival, Officer Sanford observed Serrano standing near a white Toyota Tacoma truck parked on the street in front of 9665 Thornridge Court (This vehicle was later determined to be Serrano’s white Toyota Tacoma). Officer Sanford tried to engage Serrano in conversation until other cover officers arrived and requested the radio channel be restricted to responding units for safety reasons. For the next approximate 9 minutes, multiple officers arrived while Officer Sanford and others attempted to engage Serrano in conversation and move him away from the truck. Serrano, who was standing within the open door of the vehicle, was asked multiple times to step away from the truck and to talk with officers. Numerous attempts to gain Serrano’s compliance were made where officers offered him assistance and stated phrases such as, “Work with me, I’ll work with you” and “Let me help you out.” Despite these attempts, Serrano refused to step away from the truck and occasionally flailed his arms in the air in an agitated manner.

At 10:06 p.m., Serrano got into the driver’s seat of the Toyota Tacoma, started it and revved the engine, which significantly heightened the responding officers’ concerns due to the dangerousness of Serrano being behind the wheel of a vehicle. For the next approximate 10 minutes, officers repeatedly plead with Serrano to get out of the truck and talk with them. These pleas were repeated in one form or another approximately 45 times and received no response from Serrano.

During this time, Serrano’s vehicle remained on and he intermittently activated the emergency flashers, windshield wipers, and brake lights of the vehicle. Officers separated into two groups and moved to areas offering better protection from the truck in the event Serrano accelerated. The first group, including Officers Vincent Robles (hereinafter “Officer Robles”), Stephen Smith (hereinafter “Officer Smith”), and Brandon Neagle (hereinafter “Officer Neagle”), took a position in the driveway of 9665 Thornridge Court, behind a parked vehicle. Other officers, including Officers Sanford and Officer Shawn Manning (hereinafter “Officer Manning”) backed up in the street and moved to the left away from the truck. By that time, patrol vehicles were positioned to block Serrano’s exit route from the Thornridge cul-de-sac.

At 10:16 p.m., Serrano put the truck in reverse and revved the engine before putting it back in park, further mounting safety concerns in the minds of the officers. Moments later, Serrano slowly drove forward into the cul-de-sac and completed a u-turn facing the truck toward the exit route and multiple officers and patrol vehicles blocking the cul-de-sac. Serrano then turned on the LED light bar located on the front grill of the truck illuminating the officers and patrol vehicles in front of him. Officer Sanford then moved to a position in the rock area across the street from 9665 Thornridge Court next to a parked minivan. Serrano then turned off the LED light bar.

Throughout this time, officers continued to yell to Serrano to turn the truck off and exit the vehicle also stating, “C’mon Phillip, talk with us bud!” – “Phillip, you don’t want to do this man!” – “C’mon man, turn the car off.” – “You’re not in trouble buddy” - “Your scaring the neighbors and your family, you don’t want to do this.” – “All we want to do is talk.”

Serrano then revved the engine of the truck causing the back tires to spin, which left skid marks on the ground and served to further heighten the public safety concerns of the officers. Approximately one minute later, Serrano moved the truck forward towards the officers in the driveway of 9665 Thornridge Court. Serrano then turned the truck to the right, heading directly towards Officer Sanford and the parked minivan.

Multiple officers shouted for Serrano to stop. However, Serrano’s truck continued forward to within approximately 20 feet of Officer Sanford when he, along with Officers Manning, Robles, Neagle, Smith, and Officer Sean Schwartz (hereinafter “Officer Schwartz”), fired their duty weapons, striking Serrano multiple times. The truck then struck the parked minivan next to Officer Sanford and came to a stop. Several officers approached the still running truck and broke the driver’s side front window to get Serrano out to perform life saving measures. REMSA personnel, who had been staging nearby were called in and transported Serrano to Renown Hospital. Serrano was ultimately pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m. at Renown Hospital by emergency medical doctors.

Consistent with the regionally adopted Officer Involved Shooting (hereinafter “OIS”) Protocol, the Sparks Police Department (hereinafter “SPD”) led the investigation into the shooting of Serrano. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (hereinafter “WCSO”) provided secondary investigative support, and the Washoe County Crime Laboratory (hereinafter “WCCL”) provided forensic services. The investigation included interviewing witnesses, collecting physical evidence, photographing the shooting scene, forensically testing collected evidence, reviewing body camera footage, and interviewing the officers involved in the shooting.

All investigation reports along with WCCL forensic reports, photographs, body camera footage, and recorded interviews were then submitted to the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office on July 29, 2020, for a determination of whether the shooting of Phillip Serrano was legally justified. No criminal charges were recommended by SPD.

The District Attorney’s evaluation included reviewing over 3,300 pages of reports and documents, which included interviews of police and civilian witnesses, photographs, diagrams, body camera footage, and examination of the scene of the shooting. This report follows.

Based on the available evidence and the applicable legal authorities, it is the opinion of the District Attorney that the shooting of Phillip Serrano by Reno Police Department Officers was justified under Nevada law and was not a criminal act.

For additional details please see the full report.