If It Were a Script for TV, Coincidence Wouldn’t Play

Television cop Nash Bridges couldn’t have done it any better.

Las Vegas police Sgt. Victor Vigna went on two car chases and his patrol car was rammed, but finally he recovered actor Don Johnson’s stolen Mercedes Benz.

Johnson is in Las Vegas this week, shooting footage for “Nash Bridges” at the Desert Inn hotel-casino.

Vigna first spotted suspect Robert Lee Gibson Tuesday in a stolen Mercedes. After a chase in which the Mercedes rammed Vigna’s patrol car, Gibson ditched the car and escaped on foot, Lt. Gary Schofield said.

Wednesday night Vigna was again patrolling when he spotted a familiar man driving what appeared to be Johnson’s stolen black Mercedes S500.

“I couldn’t believe it myself,” Vigna said. “I looked over and there he was again.”

That started another high-speed chase that ended 30 minutes later when the Mercedes tried to take a curve too fast and spun over a curb and into a planter. The Mercedes uprooted a tree and slid about 75 feet before rolling.

Gibson, 31, was charged with two counts of felony evading police and two counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He was also charged with one count of battery with a deadly weapon in the ramming of Vigna’s car and one count of extortion.

Johnson’s Mercedes was severely damaged.