In video obtained by The Post, Robert Telles can be heard slurring his words while handcuffed in the back of a police car outside his home after he allegedly grabbed his wife around the neck while they were returning from Bellagio Casino Hotel in March. 2020, according to a police report.
“I really thought half an hour ago he loved me,” Tells told an officer in one of the videos released by police. “I’m not a shameful person. I am a public servant. I’m not trying to be an a-hole or a jerk,” he said.
“By the way, I would like to be re-elected. If my wife, who I’ve been married to for almost 10 years, acts like I’m going to kill her… Oh, my God! I have never touched her!”
The domestic violence incident occurred two years before Telles, the Clark County public administrator, was charged with murdering German, a veteran Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter who had written a series of scathing reports exposing the disgraced official’s mismanagement .
In a Friday jailhouse interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Telles said his drinking problem led to his fight with his wife, but declined to comment on the murder charges he faces.
Robert Telles had been Clark County Public Administrator for a year at the time of the domestic violence incident. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
During the March 2020 incident, once the couple returned to their residence, the fight continued with Telles allegedly yelling, “Kill me” at his wife and their two children. At one point, his wife locked herself and the children in a room, but Tells burst in and refused to let her go while grabbing her in a tight “bear hug.”
In a 911 call obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Telles’ wife said her husband “went crazy.”
A crying child can be heard in the background, while the wife tells the dispatcher, “He won’t leave us alone. He had too much to drink tonight, and it’s just… me and my kids are scared.”
At the time of the domestic violence incident, Telles, a Democrat, had already been Clark County’s public administrator for a year.
According to the 2020 police report, the two children had to pull their drunken father away from their frightened mother. Body camera footage showed Tells repeatedly yelling at officers and asking, “Who did I hit?! … You guys just want to take me down because I’m a public servant.”
Robert Telles refused to leave his wife during the March 2020 incident. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
When one of the officers responded that his wife probably called the authorities because he was drunk, Telles muttered, “Honestly, I was a lot drunker than that,” and continued to deny hitting his wife.
“Ask fking Bellagio if I did that because it’s fking bullshit,” he continued. “I would never do that the king because I am not stupid. I am a civil servant who would never be so foolish as to have the king do this. I have many friends and we had a good time. I don’t know why the king did this.”
The domestic violence charges were ultimately dismissed on September 30, 2020 after a plea bargain, and Telles received a 90-day suspended sentence for the resisting arrest charge, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He was required to pay fines and attend classes focused on how to manage stress and relationships.
Robert Telles’ children have estranged him from his wife, according to a 2020 police report. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
According to court records, Telles completed the course and the case was dismissed on March 30, 2021.
In Friday’s jailhouse interview with the Review-Journal, Telles admitted he had a drinking problem and “blacked out” the night he went out with his wife at the Bellagio Hotel in 2020.
“Like any other person, I’ve certainly made mistakes and I’ve really tried to do my best to live my life doing good to others, and I hope that, again, with everything that’s going on in the media these days, that people they really see that,” Telles told the newspaper.
Domestic violence charges against Robert Telles were dismissed in September 2020. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Telles said he is still married to his wife.
“It definitely wasn’t me and it was a wake-up call,” Telles said of the 2020 incident.
He remains in the Clark County Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 20. He faces one count of felony murder with a deadly weapon of a victim age 60 or older and acting with “premeditated malice.” and “waiting” when he allegedly stabbed the German at his home on September 3.
German, 69, an investigative reporter who covered corruption, wrote a series of stories exposing Telles’ wrongdoing, including revealing an affair with a subordinate in his office, real estate coordinator Roberta Lee-Kennett, 45, who is also married.
Robert Telles blacked out while with his wife at the Bellagio Hotel in 2020. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
County officials who worked under Telles said he favored his alleged mistress in assignments she was not qualified to handle.
As Clark County’s public administrator, Telles oversaw the department that secures the estates of deceased residents until a family member or executor is appointed by the court. The office also manages a deceased person’s estate when families cannot.
Capt. Dory Coren, chief of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide and Sex Crimes Bureau, said Tells was upset and blamed the intrepid reporter and his articles for “evolving” his professional and personal life.
Robert Telles is scheduled to appear in court on September 20. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
At a press conference, Koren said that DNA evidence found under German’s fingernails and evidence found in Tales’ home, including sneakers and a hat that had been cut into pieces, led to the arrest.
Telles was arrested on September 7 after a two-hour standoff with police after he allegedly made suicidal statements. On Tuesday, he appeared briefly in court and smiled at the judge, his hands and wrists bound and handcuffed.
During his jailhouse interview Friday, Tells declined to comment on whether he was trying to harm himself, but pushed back when asked about alleged mismanagement by the Clark County Public Administrator’s Office.
He said some of the employees he supervised were unhappy with the changes he had made, particularly cutting overtime and wages.
When asked if he plans to remain in his position as a public official, Telles said he does not have an answer at this time.
“I’ve done so much to improve this office while frankly facing the hostility of some people in the office,” he said. “And it’s sad that the narrative kind of grew and ran. We really did a great little job in this office.”
