Man with tactical vest, knife arrested after trying to break into LVMPD mobile lab

UPDATE |Egenlauf had a court date on Saturday. He was not in attendance.Judge Holly Stoberski increased his bail to $75,000 after the state prosecutor requested it, citing he is a danger to the public. Egenlauf is due back in court on July 2.

ORIGINAL STORY |

A man armed with a knife and wearing a tactical vest was arrested after officers found him trying to break into a mobile lab at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police headquarters Friday, according to LVMPD.

Officers found the suspect around 10 a.m. behind the primary building for LVMPD's headquarters, located near MLK Jr. Boulevard and Alta Drive,Deputy Chief Dori Koren told reporters.

The man was trying to enter a digital forensics laboratory vehicle parked in an area restricted to LVMPD employees only, Koren said. He was wearing a tactical vest with ballistic plates and had a large fixed-blade knife.

The officers took the suspect into custody without any further incident, according to Koren. He was identified as 32-year-old Christopher Egenlauf.

Police searched the area and found his car parked in a restricted area. Koren says they swept the car and surrounding area as a precaution.

"At this time, we believe the suspect may have been intending to harm law enforcement personnel, and we are conducting a thorough investigation," Koren said. He added that police were conducting a deep dive intoEgenlauf's background and reviewing surveillance video.

Mobile forensic labs typically don't contain any firearms or weapons, Koren explained.

"Generally speaking those vehicles are used by our digital forensics investigators when they go to a scene and try to recover digital investigative materials such as electronic devices and things like that," he said.

A look at Egenlauf's criminal history shows Friday morning's incident wasn't his first run-in with police.

According to court documents, he was charged in 2019 and found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.

"There have been a couple of contacts in the past that we are looking into, but we don't have the details quite yet. We are still doing a deep dive into the background of the individual," Koren said, emphasizing that the investigation was still in its early stages.

Court records indicate Egenlauf faces charges ofattempted battery of a protected person, trespassing, tampering with a vehicle and possession of a gun by a prohibited person.

His first court appearance is scheduled for the afternoon on Saturday, June 29.