Crime spree, car chase detailed in police report

A man wearing all black with a white bandana over his face walked into the Rebel convenience store on Sahara Avenue near Lamb Boulevard and demanded money from the clerk at gunpoint.

"You know how this works," the man said. "Give me money, or I will smoke you out," according to a Las Vegas police report obtained Thursday that offers new details of the crime spree.

Kyle Knights, 18, and Richard Anthony Sanchez, 19, were arrested early Wednesday morning in connection with two robberies that began about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday night.

The men are also accused of leading police on a high-speed chase along valley streets and U.S. Highway 95 in which Sanchez fired a gun at officers, the report states.

Sanchez faces several felony charges including attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm out of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.

Knights faces several charges including robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Knights also had a warrant for battery with a deadly weapon from a prior incident.

Knights and Sanchez were caught about 2 a.m. Wednesday after a patrol vehicle performed a Precision Intervention Technique, a PIT, to spin and stall their truck on U.S. 95 near Eastern Avenue.

The men were suspects in armed robberies at the Rebel convenience store, 4220 E. Sahara., late Tuesday and at a Green Valley Grocery store, 5785 E. Charleston Blvd., about three miles northeast of the Rebel store, about an hour later Wednesday morning, police said.

They were in a white Ford pickup used for construction when a patrol officer tried to stop the vehicle about 1 a.m. near Sahara and Nellis Boulevard, police said.

A chase ensued, and throughout the pursuit, Sanchez leaned out from the passenger's window and fired at officers, police said. Knights was driving, the report states. No one was injured.

Sanchez threw the gun out the window, the report states. The gun, a 9 mm Smith & Wesson, was recovered.

The report states a female passenger, Jessica Stephens, was also in the getaway truck. She told police Knights was her boyfriend. She said she was with him and Sanchez that evening and dozed off in the truck. She said when she woke up, she saw police chasing them and Sanchez shooting at police. She denied any knowledge of the robberies.

There was no record of Stephens in the Clark County Detention Center on Thursday night.

The report states that several people witnessed the robberies.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.