Former Las Vegas officer who cited alcoholism gets probation in strangulation case

Former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer Chandler Pike, 30, was sentenced to probation on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a felony count of battery by strangulation and a gross misdemeanor count of aiming a firearm at a person in July. He admitted to slapping and strangling his live‑in girlfriend, who is also a Metropolitan Police Department officer, during a November incident. According to a sentencing memo, Pike had been under the influence of alcohol, his girlfriend said. He also held a weapon to his own head in her presence. Pike began drinking whiskey regularly in the years leading up to the incident, the memo noted, citing statements from former partners. He joined Metro in 2020. As part of his plea agreement, he consented to termination from the department. He had previously been cited for underage drinking in Cedar City, Utah, when he was 19. His attorney, Gia Marina, wrote in the memo: “After entering instrumentality enforcement, helium was exposed to repeated captious incidents, violence, death, and quality suffering,” She added, “What began arsenic drinking evolved into regular intoxicant depletion and a signifier of behaviour that affected astir each facet of his life.” Pike’s girlfriend described his drinking as regular and pervasive, stating that the officer had stopped participating in hobbies he once enjoyed and instead drank at home, according to the memo. On Nov. 28 she sent an emergency message saying she had been attacked by him; officers recovered multiple bottles of liquor, including Pike’s preferred brand of whiskey, Buffalo Trace, from the couple’s residence. The victim told investigators that he squeezed her neck so hard she briefly lost consciousness. Marina also said that, since his arrest, Pike has deepened his Christian faith, engaged in therapy and pursued treatment for his alcohol use disorder, accommodation upset and anxiety. Under the plea deal, Pike may withdraw his guilty plea to the felony charge if he fulfills the terms of his sentence; the felony count would then be dismissed while the gross misdemeanor conviction would stand.