Arrest made in attack on sleeping man in downtown Las Vegas
A Las Vegas man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the bludgeoning of a transient man as he slept on the street in downtown Las Vegas.
Las Vegas police said in an arrest report for Brandon Garza, 33, that at 6:04 a.m. July 29 they were called to the 500 block of East St. Louis Avenue, near Paradise Road.
Officers found a man who was clinging to life after being bludgeoned with a concrete slab. He was rushed to University Medical Center in critical condition.
“UMC advised the victim had a brain bleed, significant trauma to his face to include fractures,” police wrote in the report. “The charge nurse also advised they noticed his brain had shifted inside of his head and was not in the normal position.”
Police found a bloodied concrete lid near the man. Witnesses told police they saw a man lifting the lid up and throwing it to the ground repeatedly in the minutes before the injured man was discovered.
One witness identified the assailant as Garza, who was apprehended nearby in the 900 block of Sahara Avenue. Garza had stains on his clothes, police said. He declined to be interviewed by detectives.
A motive was not detailed in the police report. A status hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court. Garza remained in custody early Monday at the Clark County Detention Center.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
