LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police arrested a man who is accused of shooting his wife’s boyfriend in the head in an attempt to “scare” him while dressed as a police officer, according to police documents.
On Sept. 17, 2022, at around 4:10 p.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were called to the 5900 block of Brimstone Hill Avenue, near Silverado Ranch and Jones boulevards by a woman who said that “her boyfriend had battered her husband” and that “her boyfriend was bleeding from the head.”
The report stated that she told police that she had been married to Michael Trieu for 10 years, but had been dating the victim for approximately one year. She was planning to move out of the home she shared with Trieu, and asked the victim to help her move.
According to the arrest report, Trieu was aware that his wife was dating the victim and was aware that he was coming over to help her move. The wife told police that Trieu wanted to meet her boyfriend and question him about their relationship.
The report stated that the wife told police that while she was talking with her boyfriend in her bedroom, Trieu entered the room, holding a handgun that was pointed at the ground.
She told police that her boyfriend got angry and confronted Trieu, asking him “if he wanted to fight” and then punched Trieu in the face.
According to the report, Trieu and the victim “punched each other several times until Trieu became tired,” at which point Trieu ran downstairs. The victim then threw a vase at Trieu, hitting him in the shoulder.
The wife told police that the two ran outside the front door and continued to fight for a few minutes. She said she saw the victim grab for Trieu’s gun before she heard a gunshot and saw the victim collapse to the ground.
The victim was in critical condition at the time of the arrest report. According to the report, doctors at the University Medical Center had to remove part of his skull to remove the bullet fragments, and while there his health declined. UMC doctors said it could result in permanent paralysis per the report.
When officers arrived at the house, they took both Trieu and his wife into custody.
Trieu told police that his wife was cheating on him and wanted to leave him for her boyfriend. However, his wife found out that her boyfriend was also cheating on her, and “she wanted to punish her boyfriend,” the report stated.
According to the report, Trieu told police that he put on his “LVMPD Foundation polo shirt, his gun belt with a holster and ‘fake’ gun, handcuffs, badge, and ‘real’ SIG handgun” in order to “scare” the victim.
Police asked Trieu why he brought a “real” gun with him if he only wanted to scare the victim. Trieu was unable to answer, telling police that he “really did not think about it.”
Trieu told police that he heard his wife screaming so he ran upstairs. Upstairs, he saw his wife and the victim in the bedroom, and he pointed his gun, the “real” one, at the victim. Trieu told police that “the boyfriend was larger than him” and “beat” him up.
According to the report, Trieu said that the victim hit and kicked him before running downstairs. Once downstairs, Trieu told police that the victim grabbed a “Buda Statue” and threw it on the ground.
Trieu then said that the victim followed him outside and “beat him up again” before Trieu hit him with the gun while simultaneously shooting the weapon.
The report stated that Trieu told police that if he had wanted to kill the victim, he would have shot him in the bedroom.
Trieu was previously convicted of a felony, which meant he was not allowed to own or touch a firearm. Trieu told police he was aware of that, and claimed the “real” gun belonged to his wife.
According to court records, Trieu was indicted on July 10 on charges of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, battery with the use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, and false impersonation of a public officer.
His initial arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, July 13 at 9:30 a.m.
According to a separate LVMPD report, Trieu was arrested on July 7 at 9:40 a.m. in the Harry Reid International Airport by an officer on a bicycle.
The report stated that Trieu was at the airport getting a background check done for employment at the airport. The background showed that Trieu had an active warrant out for attempted murder, in connection with the Sept. 2022 incident.
There was no information on what led to Trieu’s release or to this second arrest.