Robert “Rob” Telles’ residence was searched by Las Vegas police on Wednesday in relation to the tragic death of Jeff German, a reporter whose work exposed claims of bullying and a toxic work environment in Telles’ office. Jeff German was killed in Clark County, where Telles held a position.
Telles, who has been serving as the county’s public administrator since 2019, has not been named in the media as a suspect in German’s killing.
The investigators interrogated the official at his house, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which broke the initial news of the search.
An query from Insider received no immediate response from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Additionally, Telles’s office did not answer Insider’s request for comment.
Authorities in Las Vegas say that German, an investigative reporter for The Review-Journal, was discovered dead outside of his home on the morning of September 3.
According to The Review-Journal, police think he was stabbed during a fight the day before.
German published a piece on the Clark County representative in May that included charges of a hostile work environment, a relationship at work that was “inappropriate,” bullying, and favouritism.
Telles, who at the time was running for re-election, refuted the charges and called German’s reports a “lying smear job” on Twitter.
Telles conceded the election to Rita Reid in the June primary.
Requests for comments from representatives of the Clark County office were not immediately responded to.
According to The Review-Journal, German kept looking for material on Telles and three other county officials. He was discovered deceased on Saturday in front of his house.
On Tuesday, Las Vegas police released video of a suspect and a possible connection between the suspect and a vehicle.
In a press release that day, police stated that “at this point, it appears the perpetrator was possibly casing the neighbourhood to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred.”
Police identified the car as a red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali SUV from 2007 to 2014 with “chrome handles, a sunroof, and baggage rack.”
On Tuesday, the Review-Journal captured a picture showing Telles washing a car outside his house that matched the description of the subject car.
The Review-Journal stated that it was unknown where Telles was as of Wednesday.
According to the local news source, German, 69, joined The Review-Journal in 2010. He had been a reporter for four decades. The publication stated that his work “led to reforms and policy improvements.”
German spent twenty years as a reporter for The Las Vegas Sun before joining The Review-Journal, where he covered the city’s organised crime. His true crime novel, “Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss,” was released in 2001.
German also contributed to the true crime podcast “Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas” from The Review-Journal.