In June of 1995, Las Vegas resident (and coin thief) Andrew Dersch was supporting his crack addiction by stealing buckets of nickels from elderly slot players. Dersch, who was captured doing just that by security guards at the Fremont Hotel and Casino. Dersch, who had a long list of priors refused to give his name, even when LVMPD officers Brian Nicholson, Robert Phelan, and Sgt. James Campbell arrived.
While trying to obtain Dersch’s identity, the three officers severely beat him and threatened to sodomize him with a police baton. The majority of the beating was captured on hotel security tapes, even after Campbell can be heard ordering a Fremont security officer to “Get rid of [the tape].” The officers were brought to trial, where the officers tried to argue that their police academy training instructed them on acceptable intimidation tactics, including threats to sodomize suspects with batons. Although the three were convicted, they were given a new trial when District Court Judge Lee Gates found that one of the jurors had mis-represented their criminal record during juror selection.
From left, former LVMPD Sgt. James Campbell, attorney Steve Stein, and former LVMPD patrol officers Robert Phelan and Brian Nicholson.
Rather than face another trial, Campbell and Nicholson pleaded no contest to the charge of conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon, while Phelan plead guilty to obstructing a police officer and battery in a plea deal which called for the men to serve only 2 years probation and a few hundred hours of community service. However, Judge Gates disregarded the plea deals and sentenced James Campbell and Brian Nicholson to nine months, and Robert Phelan to six months in jail. All three defendants were allowed to serve their jail terms under house arrest.
Nicholson was also one of five Metro officers implicated in the 1994 New Years Day beating of Walter, Jim and Robert Bratcher. That beating resulted in a $325,000 payout by taxpayers.
Following the conviction more than 100 Metro officers, their wives and their children gathered outside the Clark County Detention Center and held a candlelight vigil in support of the convicted criminals. Among the supporters was patrol officer Jack Spencer who told the Las Vegas Sun it was not fair to jail three officers who betrayed their oath and beat a suspect, since the courts allowed robbers to get probation.
Campbell resigned from the department and Phelan and Nicholson were fired.
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Jim Campbell was the most corrupt Narc in Las Vegas. His partner Steve Wysoski stole kilos of cocaine and had it re- sold on the streets. Jim would screw his female arrestees and do drugs with them before arresting them.All with the condolences of Kent Clifford. These were criminals in police clothing. Skimming drug dealers, beating and who knows what else to victims / low level criminals. They were the POLICE MAFIA. I knew Jim for 20 years. And of all the vile people on this planet he gets a #1 spot . Many innocent people have been locked up by this group of CRIMINALS. MAY THEY ALL ROT IN HELL. ESPECIALLY KENT CLIFFORD! WHO THE NAME PIG IS WELL SUITED. THEY ARE ALL DENZEL IN TRAINING DAY.
When I saw Campbell on the news in jail I laughed so hard that my belly hurt! He to me, is the lowest pig, along with his partner Tom Haney because they attacked me and beat me behind the Sportsman’s Lounge on June 7th 1986. Then my brother came out and stopped them even after they assaulted him with batons but he ducked out. Then Campbell was running around saying he was going to put a bullet in me and my brother! And Campbell was caught red-handed slashing tires in Henderson and the Henderson police dept. covered his ass! They are corrupt too!