North Las Vegas veteran arrested, charged in punching of Black man

A North Las Vegas man accused of punching a Black man because of his race has been found competent to stand trial, records show.

Richmond Collins Jr., 31, was arrested in November after he told police that he punched a Black man at a Walmart because of his race, according to a recently released North Las Vegas Police Department arrest report.

He told police he has “negative feelings toward African American people” and the hip- hop music playing Nov. 3 in the Walmart, 5940 Losee Road, “angered him,” the arrest report said. He said he was “looking for an African American person to attack” and chose the victim because he was smaller than him and Collins “felt he could easily beat the victim up,” the report said.

The victim told police that he was walking into Walmart with a box of things he needed to return and the next thing he remembered was waking up on the floor with several people trying to help him, the report said. He was taken to Centennial Hills Hospital, where doctors said he had a broken orbital bone and a brain bleed that required surgery.

Police said Collins fled after punching the man, but a witness provided a photo of the license plate on his car. Officers tracked the car to Collins’ mother’s house, according to the report.

Collins’ mother told police that her son was a military veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, which “has been becoming increasingly worse,” the report said. She also told police that he had recently made unprovoked attacks on multiple people, the report said.

Collins was arrested Nov. 14 on a charge of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm with a hate crime enhancement, the report said. Court records show that he was released to house arrest Nov. 19 on the condition that he go to mental health counseling regularly through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

On April 23, court records show, Collins violated house arrest and left Clark County. A warrant was issued for his arrest and, within a week, he was arrested and rebooked into the Clark County Detention Center.

In May, his case was sent to District Court for a competency hearing, court records show. Collins was found competent, according to court records from July 30.

He was arrested again Aug. 4 and booked into the jail because the court said he “is a danger to the community and a flight risk” and the “court has no confidence (Collins) will ever return to court,” court records show.

Collins is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm with a hate crime enhancement. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 25 in North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.