A deputy walks away from the red Audi that was the vehicle involved in a May 1, 2020, pursuit into Douglas County.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
A man, who tried to flash a fake FBI badge to dissuade deputies from pursuing him nearly a year ago, was sentenced to up to six years in Nevada prison on Tuesday.
Fabian Eloy Campos, 40, appeared in Douglas County District Court after a settlement conference resulted in his pleading guilty in February to attempting to elude a police officer and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
District Judge Tod Young sentenced Campos to 28-72 months in prison on the eluding charge and 24-60 months on the theft.
Under the settlement, attorneys agreed to recommend the sentences in the two cases will be served at the same time.
“It’s the court’s opinion that his defendant carries with him no though of community safety or veracity in his comments,” Young said.
Campos was ordered to pay Douglas County $34,131.16 in restitution for damage done to two patrol vehicles during the May 1 chase that led from Carson City into Douglas County.
Campos was spotted by Carson City deputies driving a stolen red Audi and pursued south on Highway 395.
He turned onto Johnson Lane and when he ran out of road turned around and rammed a patrol vehicle that was blocking the road.
A second patrol vehicle was damaged when deputies used a pursuit technique to knock the Audi off the road and capture Campos.
According to court documents, Campos had commandeered the Audi from a Los Angeles area mechanic, claiming to be an FBI agent. He was spotted and pursued in California, but officers there broke off the chase due to safety concerns.
He has been in custody ever since.
The case came close to being resolved in November after Campos had signed an agreement to admit to the two charges. But he changed his mind during arraignment.
In response prosecutors upped the ante by filing charges that included being a habitual criminal, which could have resulted in a life sentence.
During sentencing, Campos said he was filing a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office over injuries he received during the arrest.
Young vacated a May 10 trial.
