Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo was pulled over by Las Vegas police in May for an alleged red light violation, and body camera footage of the brief encounter has now become public. The incident, which lasted only about fifteen seconds, shows the governor identifying himself by name moments after the officer approached his vehicle.
The traffic stop occurred on May 15 when Lombardo was driving a light-gray Ford pickup truck near Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip. His wife, Donna, was in the passenger seat. According to the officer, Lombardo had committed a red light violation by turning right onto Giles Street without coming to a complete stop. When the officer approached the vehicle on the passenger side and began explaining the reason for the stop, Lombardo interrupted him.
“I’m Joe Lombardo,” the governor said.
“I’m aware,” the officer responded, then continued to explain the stop was for the red light violation. The sergeant then told him, “You’re good to go, sir, appreciate you. Have a good day,” and walked away. The governor did not receive a citation.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that Lombardo was not ticketed but did not explain why. Lombardo is the former Clark County sheriff and led the police department as its top official for eight years before becoming governor in 2023, having been elected in November 2022.
Lombardo’s campaign issued a statement defending the interaction. “Two months ago, Governor Lombardo and his wife were briefly pulled over on their way to the airport by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department over a question about whether Governor Lombardo had come to a complete stop while turning,” the campaign said. The statement said Lombardo “spoke with the officer, fully complied with all instructions, and was promptly on his way,” adding that he “remains grateful for the professionalism of the officer involved and for the service of law enforcement officers across Nevada.”
The campaign further clarified that Lombardo was not attempting to use his position for special treatment. “As the officer approached the vehicle, he introduced himself to Governor Lombardo, who responded in kind by simply saying, ‘Joe Lombardo,’ as a matter of courtesy,” the campaign said in an email. “At no point did the Governor invoke his office and seek — or expect — preferential treatment.”
Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, defended the officer’s decision to let Lombardo go without a citation. He said such stops where officers issue warnings rather than citations are routine. “It really is a big nothing in my opinion,” Grammas said. “Thousands of those happen every month. We don’t write everybody a ticket.”
Grammas noted that the officer likely already knew who Lombardo was and that he probably did not have a suspended driver’s license or outstanding warrants. “If he wasn’t the governor, no one would care about the hundreds of other stops that are done the same way,” he said. Grammas’s union endorsed Lombardo in his gubernatorial campaign.
Edward Obayashi, a deputy sheriff and policy adviser who teaches an ethics and policing class in California, said there was nothing unethical about the interaction. “We let motorists off with a warning all the time,” Obayashi said. He noted that the officer would have known who Lombardo was after running the license plate and that identifying oneself during a stop is common courtesy.
However, the incident drew criticism from Democrats. The Nevada State Democratic Party issued a statement saying Lombardo “was caught using his position of power to avoid accountability after breaking the law and being pulled over by a Metro Police officer trying to do their job.”
The body camera footage was initially provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal by the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and was subsequently obtained by media outlets. The interaction resurfaced publicly on Monday, more than two months after the May 15 stop.