LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man was apprehended Saturday after a wild crime spree that started when he crashed a car and it caught fire near the Queens Ridge neighborhood, and ended hours later and miles away after he was pulled unconscious from a car he had driven into the desert near Mountains Edge in the southwest valley, according to a Metro arrest report.
The I-Team has learned that the car he was found in was stolen from the driveway of Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s stepdaughter. We reached out to his campaign and to Metro police, but neither offered a comment on this report.
Jacob Sauls, 26, faces a list of charges related to the Saturday morning spree, and he remains in the Clark County Detention Center awaiting a Tuesday court hearing. The charges are:
- Grand larceny of a motor vehicle
- Attempted grand larceny of a motor vehicle
- Attemped home invasion
- Attempted robbery with a deadly weapon
- Burglary of a motor vehicle
- Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon
- Driver disobeying a peace officer, endangering others’ person/property
- Trafficking Schedule I, II controlled substance (more than 100 grams, less than 400 grams)
- Trafficking Schedule I controlled substance (more than 400 grams)
- Possession/receiving/transfer of a stolen vehicle
Sauls was found with 253 grams of cocaine and 1.3 kilos of methamphetamine, according to the arrest report. Charges related to the drugs are listed in Justice Court records.
Sauls is also being held on a fugitive warrant out of Montana, and is scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursday on that charge.
According to the arrest report, Sauls was driving a 2016 Audi A7 that was involved in a hit-and-run crash near Town Center Drive and Flamingo Road. He didn’t stop after he “slammed” into another vehicle, and the Audi had no license plates according to a statement given to police.
The Audi crashed through a chain-link fence near Alta Drive and Regency Park Road, and the crash was witnessed by a homeless man who had camped nearby. The man told police he lives in his car, a 2001 Honda Civic. According to the police report, Sauls approached the man and offered drugs or cash for the Honda, but the man refused. He initially said he didn’t want to hurt the man, but then said, “I need this car.” He grabbed a yellow crowbar and smashed a window.
Police later determined Sauls was trying to use an Audi key to start the Honda, and they found heavy damage to the Honda’s ignition.
The homeless man said as sirens got louder with police nearing, Sauls got out of the Honda , taking a container of 12 vanilla cupcakes with red, white and blue sprinkles and several bottles of water, according to the report.
He ran toward the TPC Summerlin Golf Course and jumped a fence into a backyard as police arrived on the scene. Officers lost sight of him.
A woman who lives in the neighborhood reported that a man entered her backyard, knocking over trash cans and attempting to kick in a side door to the house.
From there, Sauls got into a 2018 Audi Q5 that was in a driveway. The doors were unlocked and a key fob had been left in the car, and “Sauls was able to turn on the vehicle and leave the area,” the report said. The car belonged to Lombardo’s stepdaughter, and she told police she didn’t give anyone permission to use the vehicle.
Sauls turned up again about an hour and 40 minutes later as police tracked the 2018 Audi to the area near Interstate 15 and Blue Diamond Road in the south valley. Police followed the vehicle to a gas station near Cactus Avenue and I-15, but when marked patrol cars showed up, the Audi took off.
The Audi headed into oncoming traffic on Cactus at more than 90 mph before leaving the roadway and driving into the desert. The pursuit continued, ending after five and a half miles before the car stopped.
Sauls refused to follow officers’ commands, and they eventually approached the car, where they found him unconscious.
Lombardo is the Republican candidate for governor in November’s election, going up against incumbent Democrat, Gov. Steve Sisolak.
