Escaped inmate may have been involved in Las Vegas police chase

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tried unsuccessfully to arrest two people Friday evening - one of whom may have been the inmate who escaped from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

Jose Montoya of the Metro public information office said a female and male fled when a surveillance team spotted them outside a residence in southwest Las Vegas.

The car chase ended when they crashed into another vehicle.

The male suspect fled on foot and broke into a nearby home. He pointed a gun at the woman resident and demanded her car keys, then managed to escape in her vehicle, Montoya said.

Jody Thompson, 24, was serving multiple sentences for robbery and larceny when he escaped by hiding in the back of a Prison Industries delivery truck Aug. 25. He was last seen by a convenience store clerk in Fallon and is still at large. Prison officials say he has family and friends in Pahrump and the Las Vegas area.

Montoya said investigators aren't certain the male suspect was Thompson, but they believe the female was his girlfriend. She disappeared while the officers were chasing the male suspect and also remains at large.

Conrad Hafen, chief of the attorney general's criminal division, said Ana Kastner, 42, is in the Carson City jail charged with aiding a prisoner to escape. Prison officials allege she smuggled a cell phone into the prison which Thompson used to set up his escape.

Her preliminary hearing is set Sept. 12 in Carson Justice Court.

Hafen said the attorney general has also filed a criminal complaint charging Thompson with escape. He said the investigation is continuing.

n Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.