Man charged with attempted murder in baseball bat attack at bus stop

A suspect has been charged with attempted murder after police say he repeatedly bludgeoned a man with a baseball bat near a Las Vegas Valley bus stop in an unprovoked attack.

Daniel Hawksley, 46, was arrested by Las Vegas police in the Feb. 1 beating of a man who was standing next to a bus stop at Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Maryland Parkway.

Police said in an arrest report for Hawksley that a bus driver with the Regional Transportation Commission was pulling his bus up to the stop when he saw a man attack another man with a bat. The victim, described as in his 60s, was hospitalized with serious injuries to his head that required 21 staples to repair.

“He was very incoherent even in the hospital,” police wrote, adding that the victim “had fractures to his skull and internal bleeding in his brain.”

Police said video from the bus showed the victim standing near the bus stop and having no interaction with Hawksley before Hawksley attacked him from behind with a black bat.

“(He) swung the bat with such force in a baseball-style swing that the momentum of the swing caused both men to fall to the ground. … The noise from the impact was audible on the video,” police wrote.

Police said Hawksley then struck the victim twice more in the head with the bat as the victim was motionless on the ground. Hawksley was arrested hours later walking in the area with blood on his clothes.

Las Vegas Justice Court records show that Hawksley, who has no known address, also is charged with battery causing substantial bodily harm. He remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday with a preliminary hearing in the case scheduled for Feb. 23.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.