Man faces kidnapping, assault charges in North Las Vegas attack, police say
A homeless man has been charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in an abandoned building in North Las Vegas.
Authorities said they arrested Larrie Welsh Jr., 32, on Sept. 20 after North Las Vegas police officers were called to a run-down property on Las Vegas Boulevard North.
“A female caller … said she was locked in an abandoned building and had been sexually assaulted,” an arrest report for Welsh said.
Police eventually found the woman in a building on what appeared to be an old car lot.
“Officers spoke with (her) through a broken window of a French-style door, which was secured with a metal bar bolted to the frame, which prevented the door from opening,” police said in the report.
Police cut a padlock to get to her. When she emerged from the building, she told police she had been released from jail the day before and met Welsh outside a convenience store. She needed a ride home and Welsh said he had a bike she could use to get home. She went with him to the abandoned building, where she said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted, forced to smoke methamphetamine and then locked in the building.
“She said one minute Larrie was angry, then he would swing to feeling bad and having pity for what he did to her,” police said. “She said he would then swing back to angry and tell her he would be the gatekeeper when she went to hell. (She) was scared she was going to die and decided to try and make Larrie feel like she would be in a relationship with him. She said it was during this conversation that he told her his name was Larrie Welsh.”
When Welsh left to go to an area recycling center, she called the police. Welsh was arrested near the scene. He claimed the woman went willingly with him to the abandoned building and that they engaged in consensual sex.
Welsh faces charges of kidnapping and sex assault in North Las Vegas Justice Court. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
