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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police removed unspecified items from the office of the lame-duck Las Vegas township constable while trying to find the source of a recorded telephone conversation between him and a Clark County commissioner, authorities said Wednesday.
Chief Deputy Constable Dean Lauer wouldn't say what Las Vegas investigators removed while serving warrants Tuesday at the downtown office of Constable John Bonaventura.
Lauer said Bonaventura was in legal meetings and wasn't immediately available for comment.
"The allegations are against the constable, not against deputies or office staff," Lauer said, adding that items seized by police "do not affect the operation of the office itself."
Investigators also served a warrant at Bonaventure's home. Police released a statement Tuesday saying the probe was looking at whether state wiretapping law was broken with the recording aired in May by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Bonaventura, who was running for election at the time against Clark County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow, is heard in the recording introducing a person to his conversation with Commissioner Tom Collins.
"This is pretty funny, man," Bonaventure says. "This is Tom Collins. You know he's one of the commissioners, right? He's talking about Scow, the lady I'm running against. You know all of them voted against" keeping the office operating.
Collins is then heard using profane language about other commissioners.
Collins didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The township constable's office has about 24 sworn law enforcement deputies whose duties include serving court papers and carrying out evictions.
The newspaper reported (http://bit.ly/STqEe0) that Collins later said he didn't give permission to record the telephone conversation. Bonaventura denied recording the call.
Nevada law makes it illegal to record a phone call unless both parties consent.
The exact date of the conversation was unclear, but it appeared to have been recorded before Collins signed an affidavit in mid-April in support of a lawsuit Bonaventura filed against the county, seeking to save his office.
Amid a series of controversies, county commissioners voted unanimously in March 2013 to abolish the constable office at the end of Bonaventura's elected term in January. The Nevada Supreme Court recently upheld the commission vote.
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