Brother, sister charged in beating of Las Vegas gas station clerk

A man and his sister are facing charges in a Las Vegas convenience store robbery in which a clerk was badly beaten.

The suspects are identified in court records as Rajohn and Rejasia Coleman, both 20. They each face charges of robbery, burglary, conspiracy, coercion and battery with intent to commit mayhem in connection with a Jan. 4 robbery at a gas station on the 3600 block of South Durango Drive, near West Twain Avenue.

An arrest report for Rajohn Coleman states Las Vegas police were called to the convenience store on 4:10 a.m. for a report of a robbery. Police encountered a clerk who had “severe injuries to her face,” the report states. The woman’s eye was swollen shut and her face was bloodied and bruised. Police later learned her eye socket was broken during an assault.

Surveillance video from the convenience store shows a man without a shirt walk into the store. The clerk asked him to leave, police said. The man returns with another individual and they attempt to buy items but they don’t have enough money. One of the men then throws the items at the clerk and they leave, police reports state.

When the clerk went outside to get a license plate number from their vehicle, police said, one of the men who had been in the store approached the clerk and punched her in the head. A group of suspects then re-entered the store and robbed it of cash and items. Then, the man who punched the clerk attacked the woman again, police said in the report.

Police later tracked the vehicle to a disturbance at another convenience store in the 2800 block of South Decatur Boulevard, and, in that case, police said a clerk was able to get a license plate number from a vehicle containing a group of people after a similar argument.

Police tracked the vehicle to an area apartment complex and interviewed Rejasia Coleman, the police report stated. She admitted being present at the robbery.

“Rejasia stood there watching Rajohn throw punch after punch at the clerk and did not step in to stop him,” the arrest report states.

In a later interview, Rajohn Coleman told officers, “I can’t believe that happened. … I’m a Christian and I know not to hit women but she spit in my face.”

A preliminary hearing for the pair is scheduled for Jan. 22 in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.