Video shows Las Vegas Strip incident involving ex-Raider Damon Arnette
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Thursday shows the incident where former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Damon Arnette is accused of showing a gun to a valet after he lost his claim ticket.
A grand jury indicted Arnette on assault with a deadly weapon and firearm-related charges last week, records showed.
On Jan. 28, 2022, Las Vegas Metro police arrested Arnette, 26, on charges of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, assault with a deadly weapon, and two drug charges. The Clark County District Attorney’s Office dropped the case in July 2022.
Prosecutors said the gun was tucked in Arnette’s waistband. A witness told the grand jury he saw Arnette hold and then rack the gun, records said. The video appears to show Arnette removing the gun from his waistband and putting it in a door console.
The gun allegedly shown to a valet as seen in grand jury exhibits. (KLAS)
On the night of the alleged incident, a Park MGM parking attendant asked Arnette for his valet ticket, which Arnette had thrown out, his initial arrest report said.
“After that I thought this guy was going to like kill us so I slowly backed away and went on my radio and called security,” a witness told the grand jury.
“He was standing behind his car door just in front where he is and then when I turned around he looked at me and said give me my [expletive] keys and the gun was right there,” the employee told the grand jury.
Police later stopped Arnette at a gas station on Las Vegas Boulevard, believing the car was stolen, documents said. Arnette denied pointing the gun at anyone, transcripts said.
Video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Thursday shows the incident where former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Damon Arnette is accused of showing a gun to a valet after he lost his claim ticket.
“The district attorney’s office made a non-prosecution decision presumably after reviewing the video corroborating what Damon told the police that he never carried or pointed a gun at anyone,” Arnette’s attorney, Ross Goodman, said after prosecutors dropped the charges in 2022.
In November 2021, the Raiders dropped Arnette after a video of Arnette went viral where he is seen brandishing a gun and threatening to kill someone.
Arnette, a Raiders’ 2020 first-round pick, was cut less than a week after No. 12 overall pick Henry Ruggs III was released following a fatal DUI crash.
Arnette had an agreement to join the Kansas City Chiefs, but the team released the cornerback from his future contract after his arrest.
In July 2022, police in Miami arrested Arnette on drug charges. According to the arrest report obtained by 8 News Now, Arnette, police pulled Arnette over when a police officer recognized the car he was driving because he had made a stop on that same vehicle about three hours earlier and the driver, Arnette, was cited for driving on a suspended license.
Former Las Vegas Raider Damon Arnette’s January 2022 booking photo. (LVMPD/KLAS)
During the second stop, Arnette was arrested and searched. The arrest report said police found “a small pink Ziplock baggie containing a white powdery substance consistent with that of cocaine, along with a straw that was cut into a small piece resembling a device that is common for cocaine use.”
The report said after Arnette was pulled over earlier in the evening, another licensed driver drove the vehicle from the traffic stop. Officers said Arnette was warned he was not to drive until his license was reinstated.
Arnette was sued in a hit-and-run crash that occurred on Oct. 14, 2020, in Henderson. He was also sued in a May 28, 2021, dispute with a valet at Aria Resort & Casino. The latter case was dismissed.
Goodman did not return a request for comment on his client’s indictment. 8 News Now has asked the district attorney’s office why it was pursuing charges after dropping the case.
Arnette was due in court on May 24.
Source: KLAS - 8 News Now
