Parents upset over arrest of teen at campus arena

LAS VEGAS - A North Dakota couple says their son was arrested by UNLV police, harassed and held for two hours, and they've spent six months in a futile bid to get answers from the university.

The complaint by Jerry and Renae Doan is just the latest against the campus police agency.

They say the trouble began when the McKenzie, N.D. family visited Las Vegas in December to see their daughter compete in a pageant at the National Finals Rodeo.

Before 17-year-old Jay Doan could make it into the host Thomas & Mack Center with his family, he was arrested, threatened with felony charges and repeatedly berated by campus police officers. The family contends he was finally released by police without so much as a citation.

The parents have asked UNLV administrators for six months to investigate the incident that began as a ticket scalping charge. They said the incident escalated when their son was handcuffed and left in tears for two hours in a back room at the campus arena, where UNLV police would not allow him to ask questions about his arrest. He was accused of assaulting an officer.

''I've never seen such harassment in my entire life,'' said Jerry Doan. The father said he tried to talk to campus officers while they held his son, but they would not let him speak either.

''I've seen jerk cops, but these guys should have the trophy,'' Doan said.

Jerry Doan said the university ignored his pleas for action until he contacted the American Civil Liberties Union three weeks ago.

''Nothing happens until pressure is brought from the outside,'' Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said the Doans' situation is just the latest in several campus police misconduct cases that were ignored until the ACLU got involved.

The Doans said they decided to talk to the media when they were told by the school that the matter could not be addressed for another 30 says.

Rebecca Mills, a UNLV vice president in charge of campus police, said she wrote the family saying she would look into the incident and respond no later than June 20.