Ex-police officer who shot dead unarmed war veteran will get $1MILLION disability pension despite being fired

Jesus Arevalo, 36, is getting thousands of dollars a month from Nevada's Public Employees Retirement System



The Las Vegas man was granted a full retirement for a 'stress-related' disability just one month before he was fired by the department for shooting dead Stanley Gibson in 2011

The disability pension allows Arevalo to collect benefits equaling about 31 per cent of his highest annual pay while on the force

As such, he can expect between $23,000 and $28,000 per year, with cost-of-living increases

This equates to at least $1 million if he lives to the age of 80

Arevalo was fired a month after his disability pension was approved, for the December 2011 shooting death of Stanley Gibson

A former Las Vegas police officer who was fired for shooting dead an unarmed war veteran will still receive a disability pension totaling around $1 million, it was revealed this week.

Jesus Arevalo, 36, is getting thousands of dollars each month from Nevada's Public Employees Retirement System because he was granted a full retirement for a 'stress-related' disability just before he finished up with the department.



According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the disability pension allows Arevalo to collect benefits equaling about 31 per cent of his highest annual pay while on the force.

Disability: Jesus Arevalo, 36, pictured last March at a seprate court hearing, is getting thousands of dollars each month from Nevada's Public Employees Retirement System because he was granted a full retirement for a 'stress-related' disability just before he finished up with the department

PERS would not specify the amount, however, the newspaper reports that Arevalo's annual pay averaged $90,275 in his last three years with the department.



As such, he can expect between $23,000 and $28,000 per year, with cost-of-living increases, depending on whether his retirement benefits were calculated using his base pay or with overtime.



This equates to at least $1 million if he lives to the age of 80.

On December 12, 2011, Arevalo fired his AR-15 rifle into Stanley Gibson's barricaded car after mistaking another officer's gunfire as coming from that direction.



Gibson was hit four times and died at the scene. The wife of the Gulf War veteran, who suffered from delusions and post-traumatic stress since returning home, received a $1.5 million settlement from the department.



The department's internal Use of Force Board recommended Arevalo's firing in May, according to the Review Journal.



Arevalo submitted his disability retirement paperwork to the department on July 9, 2012, more than a year-and-a-half after the shooting.

Victim: This undated file photo shows Rondha and Stanley Gibson. Stanley Gibson was shot to death by Arevalo on December, 12, 2011, and his wife, left, received $1.5 million compensation from the department

He said he initially wanted to remain with the force, but, with the case against him, it became 'too much.'



Arevalo told the newspaper: 'When you're gonna (expletive) lose everything, and there are medical issues stress-wise, and a lot of people are saying, "Hey, it's not worth it. You need to work on you," toward the end, it was just too much.'



On September 18, PERS retirement board members, unanimously approved Arevalo's permanent and total disability based on recommendations from his employer, supervisor and doctor.



Two weeks later, the department's pre-termination board heard Arevalo's shooting case and agreed he should be fired. He was finally terminated by Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie on October 15.



If he had lost his job a month earlier, he wouldn't have been eligible for the disability pension.



A member of the PERS board, Chris Collins, executive director of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, said he didn't believe Arevalo was trying to avoid punishment.



'I don't think he ran from discipline,' Collins told the Review Journal. 'Both letters from doctors were saying that this is a gentleman who, from the events in his life, put him in the predicament that he probably shouldn't be a policeman anymore. It made perfect sense to me.'



Collins added that knowing the department was planning to fire him may have pushed his stress levels over the edge.

Unfair? While Arevalo, pictured making a hand signal, didn't appeal his termination, he said he doesn't believe the department had enough cause to fire him

'Maybe that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I don't know,' Collins said. 'Whatever it was that finally pushed him over, his doctor didn't believe he could have worked as a police officer again.'



The Review Journal cited a senior officer with knowledge of the disciplinary process as saying that officers facing discipline will retire for a questionable health problem about once a year.



'The whole medical retirement thing, for a lot of people, is a joke,' another officer said, according to the newspaper.



While Arevalo didn't appeal his termination, he said he doesn't believe the department had enough cause to fire him.



He believes his colleague, Lt. David Dockendorf, who was demoted two ranks, bore as much responsibility for Gibson's death as he did, and the department's radio system, which officials acknowledged wasn't working that night, was also to blame.



'The department tried to paint me as an out-of-control cop, a rogue cop,' Arevalo said. 'It's all Gillespie. He wanted to take heat off a $42 million radio system that failed that night. He wanted to take heat off his lieutenant.'



Despite what happened, he said he feels terrible about Gibson's death.

