Las Vegas official accused of killing journalist seen in 2020 arrest video
Clark County, Nevada, Public Administrator Robert Telles, who was arrested last week in connection with the Aug. 3, 2022, murder of Jeff German, acts out in an arrest video from 2020 obtained by FOX5 Las Vegas.
Clark County, Nevada, Public Administrator Robert Telles, who was charged last week in connection with the Aug. 3 murder of an investigative journalist, can be heard saying that his wife acted like he was "going to kill her" during a 2020 arrest caught on police body camera footage.
Las Vegas police arrested Telles, 45, after they released photos of the suspect in journalist Jeff German's killing and the suspect's vehicle, which matched a description of the vehicle Telles was seen driving before German's death.
In the video captured during his March 1, 2020, arrest over a domestic incident in which he allegedly choked his wife, a drunken Telles repeatedly says he loves his wife and family and would never hurt them, according to FOX5 Las Vegas.
At one point, however, he says his wife was "acting like" he was "going to f---ing kill her."
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The public administrator repeatedly tells police in the video that he is a "public official."
"Why are you taking me down? I haven't touched anybody. I haven't hurt anybody. This is a civil rights violation," Telles can be heard saying to police in 2020 body camera footage obtained by FOX5.
He says later on: "I am so not, like, somebody who's embarrassing. I'm a public official. … I'm not trying to, like, be an a--hole or a jerk."
At one point, he tells an officer to contact an official with the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) to "vouch" for him.
Jeff German murder suspect Robert Telles (shown) is being held at the Clark County Detention Center. (LVMPD)
Police in the video can be heard saying that Telles was accused of choking his wife near the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. When an officer suggests that his wife might have been upset with Telles' drunken state, he tells the cop, "Honestly, I've been drunker. I've been drunker than this, chief."
The case was closed on March 30, 2020, and Telles was ordered to complete a class, according to FOX5.
Two years later, Telles was accused of killing German, a journalist with the Las Vegas Review-Journal who had uncovered potential wrongdoing in Telles' office. The public administrator was "upset" about additional pending reports, police said after Telles' arrest.
Robert Telles is accused of stabbing Jeff German (shown) to death outside the journalist's home on Aug. 3, 2022. (Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
The 45-year-old Democratic city official is charged with open murder and is currently detained in the Clark County Detention Center.
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Police on Tuesday released a photo of the suspect in German's killing wearing a bright orange jacket, a large straw hat, black pants and gray sneakers. After Telles' arrest, authorities revealed that they recovered a cut-up straw hat and cut-up gray sneakers with blood stains from Telles' home during their investigation into German's murder. Police said they also found Telles' DNA at the scene of the crime.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is still processing other evidence in the case. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section at 702-828-7777 or homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or go to www.crimestoppersofnv.com/.
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