4 arrested after latest Las Vegas Strip shooting

Four people have been arrested in connection with shooting on the Las Vegas Strip early Monday, with one of them facing assault and weapons charges.

Confirmation of the arrests comes as Las Vegas police detailed results of their weekend efforts to combat violence on the Strip through an enforcement effort known as Operation Persistent Pressure.

“This last weekend we conducted almost 600 stops and conducted 110 arrests,” Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Misael Parra said Tuesday. “We are quickly responding to issues and proactively addressing those involved in criminal activities.”

In the Monday shooting, Clark County Detention Center records show Jonathan Rosales, 24, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a weapon where people might be endangered. Rosales was booked under the same Las Vegas event number that police listed for the 12:54 a.m. shooting at the northeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Harmon Avenue, near Planet Hollywood Resort.

Police said there was an altercation between at least three men, prompting one to brandish a weapon and discharge it.

Jail records show three more people were booked at the jail in connection with the same event. Patelesio Togia, 22, was booked on suspicion of owning a gun by a prohibited person and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. Daniel Mikaele, 25, was booked on suspicion of giving a false statement and disorderly conduct. Leslie Derrar, 20, was booked on possession of marijuana. Rosales, Togia, Mikaele and Derrar were each booked under the same event number that police listed for the dispute on the Strip.

Further details on their arrests were not released.

‘Two-pronged approach’

Las Vegas police said they are dealing with an outbreak of violence on the Strip by attempting to take illegally possessed guns off people stopped by law enforcement around the Strip. They have also increased patrols by roughly 20 percent on the Strip during late-night and early morning hours.

James McCabe is a retired inspector with the New York City Police Department, an associate professor at Sacred Heart University and a criminal justice consultant with the Center for Public Safety Management in Washington, D.C. He said Tuesday that increasing patrols is critical to addressing an increase in crime in a certain area.

“Saying it is a crime problem is too broad,” McCabe said. “You have a violence problem. That usually involves a two-pronged approach. You need an increased presence, creating that visible presence to deter. To the extent you can saturate the area with a police presence, it’s a good thing.”

“The second piece is targeted enforcement,” he said, noting police can gather valuable information by using undercover operations on the Strip and intelligence tips to help focus on specific people.

With those two steps, McCabe said, “you can address this and make progress.”

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.