James W. Harbin II

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

March 19, 1979

Suspect in Metro Officer’s Slaying Taken Into Custody

A suspect in the killing of a young corrections officer was arrested Monday afternoon after officers persuaded him to come out of a house trailer they had surrounded for about two hours.

Officer James W. Harbin II, 22, was in uniform and en route to the Clark County Jail about 9:45 p.m. Sunday when he was shot after walking into an armed robbery attempt at the Circle K store, 3500 E. Charleston Blvd, police said.

A gunman fired a round of shots from a small automatic pistol at close range, police reported.

Police talked the suspect, identified as Phillip Tomanchero, out of the trailer at Pecos Park Coach Club, 200 Pecos Road, at about 1:10 p.m. No shots were fired, police said.

A police spokesman said there were three persons in the trailer when officers arrived about 11 a.m. After police made a telephone call t the trailer, one man, identified only as a friend of the suspect, dropped the phone and come out to talk to police.

…Harbin was told by a citizen that a robbery was occurring in the store, and the officer went back in to try to apprehend the gunman, Conner said.

One detective said Harbin had stopped at the store on his way to work to bay a pack of Life Savers.

The robber approached Harbin from behind, the detective said, declining to say where Harbin was hit.

Paramedics treated Harbin at the scene, but the policeman died in the ambulance on the way to Sunrise Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly before 10 p.m.

A member of the police of the police force for just more than a month, Harbin lived with his parents, James and Betty Harbin, 3913 Gaviota Ave. He joined Metro on Feb. 7.

Plaque Location & Image

South Wall Column 12 Row G     View The Plaque