A Clark County man is suing over a downtown arrest involving a Metropolitan Police Department officer known on social media as “Metro Mullet,” alleging excessive force.
The lawsuit accuses the officer and the department of excessive force, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The complaint concerns a downtown arrest.
What the Lawsuit Describes
The lawsuit describes a downtown arrest involving an officer known as “Metro Mullet.”
The lawsuit alleges that the officer known as “Metro Mullet” used excessive force during the arrest.
Tellez alleges he complied with officers throughout the encounter and did not physically resist or attempt to escape, and the lawsuit states he posed no threat during the restraint. He says he sustained significant bruising to his left upper chest and shoulder. The lawsuit also accuses officers of violating his Fourth Amendment rights.
Conflicting Accounts at the Scene
The complaint says the officer accused Tellez of drinking during the stop. Body-camera audio captured the officer saying, “It looked like he was trying to escape, but a car pulled in so he got blocked in,” and later, “He was resisting in the car.” Brightmon is quoted in the footage telling Tellez, “One's complying, one's not. That's the difference.”
Metro officers also detained another person who approached the stop with cameras, though that individual was not handcuffed, per the lawsuit. Both Metro and the man's attorneys declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The Officer Known as “Metro Mullet”
The lawsuit identifies the officer by the social-media nickname “Metro Mullet” and alleges excessive force.
8 News Now reported that Metro's Downtown Area Command logged 117 non-deadly-force incidents, described as the most of any area command over the same five-year period covered by the department's report.
Metro's broader use-of-force numbers have been climbing even as shootings decline. The department documented 849 uses of non-deadly force in 2025, the highest total across the five years tracked in its annual review, 8 News Now reported. At the same time, Metro recorded seven officer-involved shootings in 2025, below the five-year average of 11.6 and down sharply from 17 shootings in 2024. A separate five-year statistical report from LVMPD covering 2019 through 2023 found 10 officer-involved shootings in 2023, below that period's average, with a supervisor present at 80% of those incidents.
The Tellez case is not the only recent litigation testing Metro's use-of-force practices. Newly filed court records cited by KTNV describe multiple lawsuits alleging Metro violated protesters' First Amendment rights during a June 11 anti-ICE demonstration downtown, including body-camera footage showing officers firing at least 47 pepper balls at one protester. Police arrested nearly 100 people and issued seven citations that night, according to the station's reporting.
