Apr. 18, 2006
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
Police refuse to identify where Saturday morning incident occurred
By LAWRENCE MOWER
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A man was attacked early Saturday by about 15 youths near an entrance to a parking garage at the rear of a Strip resort, police said.
A surveillance videotape of the attack shows the man being sucker punched by one young man, then being swarmed by a crowd of at least six young men, who beat him.
One of the attackers tries to kick the man in the face. The victim is able to pull away from the crowd, but he is chased and caught in the middle of a roadway, where the growing group of attackers, as if in a feeding frenzy, continues to punch, kick and stomp on him as he curls in a fetal position on the ground. One of the assailants appears to use a chain or some type of belt to whip the man.
The victim, whose name and age were not released, suffered a broken jaw and a broken collarbone, police said.
"This is truly egregious," Las Vegas police Capt. Dave O'Leary said.
He said the suspects are thought to have been coming out of a nearby movie theater when the attack occurred.
The United Artists Showcase 8 movie theaters are next to the MGM Grand on the Strip, and visitors to the cinemas frequently park at the MGM Grand.
Authorities are looking for about 15 people in their late teens or early 20s who were involved, O'Leary said.
On the videotape, most, if not all, of the attackers appear to be boys or young men, but at least one woman is seen kicking the victim before she jogs away laughing.
The videotape shows the victim keeping an eye on the crowd as it streamed past the golf cart in which he was sitting at about 2:20 a.m.
One of the young men passing by the golf cart is seen taking the man's two-way radio out of the passenger side of the vehicle, police said.
When the man gets out of the golf cart and pulls out a cell phone, another youth sneaks up behind him and starts punching him in the side of the face, sparking the melee.
Camera footage from immediately after the incident shows several vehicles with Nevada license plates speeding out of the parking garage next to where the attack occurred, O'Leary said.
In an e-mail to the media alerting them to the Monday afternoon's news conference about the attack, Las Vegas police said the incident was a robbery that had happened at the MGM.
But at the news conference, O'Leary described the location only as a "resort property on the Strip corridor."
O'Leary refused to release or confirm the name of the property "as a feeling of a good-faith gesture" to the business, he said.
He said many Strip properties work with police and provide security camera video.
In this case, he said, police wanted to maintain that relationship with the property, and the business did not want its name released. He said he would provide more details on the incident in the future.
Police also said they did not know whether the victim was a security guard at the resort or what job he was performing when he was attacked. They said the resort property did not contact police until Saturday evening.
The Review-Journal found an area at the back of the MGM at the end of Audrie Street that is identical to the area seen on the videotape.
MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said Monday night that he recently had returned to town and was unaware of the incident and unable to comment on it.
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
Police refuse to identify where Saturday morning incident occurred
By LAWRENCE MOWER
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A man was attacked early Saturday by about 15 youths near an entrance to a parking garage at the rear of a Strip resort, police said.
A surveillance videotape of the attack shows the man being sucker punched by one young man, then being swarmed by a crowd of at least six young men, who beat him.
One of the attackers tries to kick the man in the face. The victim is able to pull away from the crowd, but he is chased and caught in the middle of a roadway, where the growing group of attackers, as if in a feeding frenzy, continues to punch, kick and stomp on him as he curls in a fetal position on the ground. One of the assailants appears to use a chain or some type of belt to whip the man.
The victim, whose name and age were not released, suffered a broken jaw and a broken collarbone, police said.
"This is truly egregious," Las Vegas police Capt. Dave O'Leary said.
He said the suspects are thought to have been coming out of a nearby movie theater when the attack occurred.
The United Artists Showcase 8 movie theaters are next to the MGM Grand on the Strip, and visitors to the cinemas frequently park at the MGM Grand.
Authorities are looking for about 15 people in their late teens or early 20s who were involved, O'Leary said.
On the videotape, most, if not all, of the attackers appear to be boys or young men, but at least one woman is seen kicking the victim before she jogs away laughing.
The videotape shows the victim keeping an eye on the crowd as it streamed past the golf cart in which he was sitting at about 2:20 a.m.
One of the young men passing by the golf cart is seen taking the man's two-way radio out of the passenger side of the vehicle, police said.
When the man gets out of the golf cart and pulls out a cell phone, another youth sneaks up behind him and starts punching him in the side of the face, sparking the melee.
Camera footage from immediately after the incident shows several vehicles with Nevada license plates speeding out of the parking garage next to where the attack occurred, O'Leary said.
In an e-mail to the media alerting them to the Monday afternoon's news conference about the attack, Las Vegas police said the incident was a robbery that had happened at the MGM.
But at the news conference, O'Leary described the location only as a "resort property on the Strip corridor."
O'Leary refused to release or confirm the name of the property "as a feeling of a good-faith gesture" to the business, he said.
He said many Strip properties work with police and provide security camera video.
In this case, he said, police wanted to maintain that relationship with the property, and the business did not want its name released. He said he would provide more details on the incident in the future.
Police also said they did not know whether the victim was a security guard at the resort or what job he was performing when he was attacked. They said the resort property did not contact police until Saturday evening.
The Review-Journal found an area at the back of the MGM at the end of Audrie Street that is identical to the area seen on the videotape.
MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said Monday night that he recently had returned to town and was unaware of the incident and unable to comment on it.
