Byron Pitts, 16, was driving with friends, said Carina Pitts, the boy’s stepmother, and tried to lose the pick-up truck as it chased him because he feared for his safety.
“He thought somebody was chasing him down trying to either beat him up, kill them, take his car,” she said.
After nearly a half hour, she said, the teen stopped once he reached a dead end and exited his car. The off-duty deputy then aimed a gun at the teen, she said, until an on-duty officer arrived.
No weapons were in the vehicle, according to a sheriff’s office report, but a passenger had a can of silly string. The teens told police they were shooting silly string at friends’ cars.
Pitts believes the silly string can was mistaken for a gun.
Clark County Chief Deputy Doyle Wright said all complaints against deputies are investigated.
“We have rules and policies that govern off-duty conduct so obviously we’ll look at those, investigate this fully and try to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
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Investigations like this one usually take about three to four weeks to be completed, Wright said.
All deputies are allowed to make an arrest if they witness a crime while off-duty as long as they identify themselves, he said, even those who work in the jail division.
“We’ll look at both sides of it … so we can determine exactly what occurred,” Wright said.
Leasure didn’t return a phone call seeking comment on Monday.
Pitts said Leasure didn’t identify himself to her stepson. The teen wasn’t arrested.
“There was no identifying marks on the vehicle, his clothing, anything stating that he was an officer,” she said.
She wants the deputy to be punished for his actions.
“I’m just not really happy about the fact that a gun was pulled on a 16-year-old,” she said.
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