More arrests expected in Kamara battery case, police say
Las Vegas police expect to make more arrests in the battery case involving NFL star running back Alvin Kamara, a Clark County assistant sheriff said Wednesday, as he explained how Kamara was able to play in Sunday’s Pro Bowl despite being suspected of a felony.
Assistant Sheriff John McGrath said video evidence clearly showed the early Saturday attack on Darnell Greene by Kamara and three other men near elevators inside The Cromwell on the Las Vegas Strip.
“There are multiple people involved,” McGrath said, adding that Kamara “is the primary aggressor.”
Kamara was arrested on Sunday shortly after the Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium on suspicion of felony battery causing substantial bodily harm. Police said Greene was seriously beaten at least 30 hours earlier by Kamara as his girlfriend, his assistant and two friends were leaving Drai’s Nightclub inside The Cromwell, according to an arrest report in the case.
McGrath said Wednesday that Kamara was able to play in the Pro Bowl despite the police inquiry for several reasons. First, McGrath said, it took many hours for detectives to discern, without question, that Kamara was the person pictured on video surveillance beating the man.
“The video took a while to go through to actually identify him to have enough probable cause to say, ‘that’s Alvin Kamara,’ ” McGrath said. “We found video that had a really clear picture of a tattoo he had. Then we knew it was enough to say it was him. That took much of Saturday night into Sunday morning.”
Police then had trouble locating Kamara.
“The other problem was he wasn’t staying at the hotel that the NFL provided,” McGrath said. “They were all at the Westin. So we tried to reach him at the Westin, but he never checked in to his room. He and friends got an Airbnb, and there is nothing wrong with that. We just couldn’t find him. That’s the other part that took a little bit of time to figure out.”
McGrath said detectives knew Kamara was scheduled to play in the Pro Bowl, so they notified NFL security that Kamara was a suspect in the assault. By the time detectives were ready to question Kamara “he was already on the field,” McGrath said, and police made the decision not to pull him off.
“The other part is obviously there are multiple people involved,” McGrath said. “He is the primary aggressor, but these other people, that we are trying to identify who are with him, we needed his cooperation for that.”
Commissioner responds
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the matter during his Super Bowl news conference Wednesday at SoFi Stadium.
“Our security team was contacted by police in Las Vegas just prior to the game, saying they would like to meet with Alvin after the game,” Goodell said. “Our security team did what it was asked to do.”
New Orleans Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that the “Saints were not notified until after the game.”
When asked if he expected further arrests in the case, McGrath offered a one-word response: “yes.”
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said that the “NFL was put on notice ahead of time that one of their players was under investigation.”
“In my opinion they (police) wanted to make sure they had enough information in their possession before they effectuated an arrest,” Wolfson said.
Conflict at Cromwell elevators
Kamara’s arrest report said that Greene told police he was leaving the club and made his way to the elevators at The Cromwell. He said he started talking with one person from a group he encountered.
As the elevator doors opened, the large group of people headed stepped in with Greene. Police said Kamara stopped him.
“Greene pushed Kamara’s hand off his chest,” police said in the report. “Greene stated he was pushed hard causing himself to stumble back. After Greene was pushed, he states he was being hit and kicked by multiple people and losses (sic) consciousness.”
Greene suffered an orbital fracture on his right eye that may require surgery, the report said.
Attempts to reach him for comment Wednesday were not successful.
Police said in the arrest report that when they watched video of the beating, “the story is exactly like how Greene describes the attack,” noting that the video showed four people assaulting Greene. The video, police said, depicts Greene being sucker punched by a man who is not Kamara before Kamara punched Greene several times.
Multiple punches
Greene, police said, fell back into the hallway, and “Kamara continues to punch him.”
After Greene lost consciousness, Kamara continued to punch him three more times, police said.
After the Pro Bowl, Kamara told police he was with his girlfriend, “Tea,” his assistant, “Reagan,” and a couple of his friends. Kamara said Greene was being unruly and threatened to “whoop your ass too.”
“Kamara said he saw a fight break out next to him when he saw Greene get punched,” police said.
Kamara told detectives he threw a couple punches, thinking Greene was running away.
“Kamara doesn’t remember if he punched Greene while he was on the ground,” police said.
Police said the video evidence did not line up with Kamara’s account.
A status check on whether Clark County prosecutors will pursue charges is scheduled for March 8 in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.