Las Vegas leprechauns on hunt for motorists breaking laws

Motorists caught by a leprechaun in Las Vegas must be thinking they definitely don't have the luck of the Irish.

Officer Michael Lemley dressed up as an oversized leprechaun and walked through crosswalks Tuesday looking for motorists who failed to yield to pedestrians as part of their St. Patrick's Day awareness campaign.

"He's already been almost killed twice," said Erin Breen, director of University of Nevada at Las Vegas' Safe Community Partnership, to the Las Vegas Sun shortly after Lemley began.

He walked through the crosswalks taking notes of motorists breaking the law and then messaged officers nearby.

According to the Associated Press, fines start at $190 for motorists, but drivers aren't the only ones who can be ticketed. The leprechauns were also looking for pedestrians who crossed streets not in the designated crosswalks.

Breen said to the Sun the awareness campaign comes at a bad time for traffic fatalities. Four people have died in Clark County, Nevada, so far this year compared to two at the same time last year.

This isn't the first time Las Vegas police have used costumes as part of their law enforcement duties. In November, they had an officer dressed up as a turkey and around Christmas they had one dressed as Santa.

Lemley told Fox5, "Yield rates in December when Santa took to the crosswalk were the highest ever, and our goal is education, not citation, so we're actually happy when everyone stops."

The law enforcers also note that there is little excuse for drivers to say they couldn't see a person dressed in a bright green suit.