There have been 5 deaths in the past couple of weeks on the Las Vegas Strip and several other violent incidents close to the Strip.
Recently, we had 2 gang murders, a French tourist falling off an escalator when drunk. a man who punched another man who fell, struck his head and died, a local who was stole wallets, was caught and pushed down and died and just off the Strip by a block or two, another man was stabbed to death. All in the course of about 2 weeks.
In the latest incident, from the Las Vegas Sun: Homicide investigators will be submitting to prosecutors their findings in a death at the New York, New York on July 6 to determine if charges should be filed, Metro Police said.
At about 8 p.m. on July 7, police were notified by Valley Hospital of an injured man who was transported to the hospital.
The man, who lived in North Las Vegas, met and befriended four adult male tourists the night of July 6, police said.
They went to the tourists’ hotel room, and eventually all five men fell asleep, police said. At about 5:40 a.m. on July 7, one of the tourists awoke to find the North Las Vegas man attempting to leave the room with wallets and other items, police said.
The tourist confronted the man, who fled the room, police said.
The tourist followed him to near an elevator, and when the man turned to strike the tourist, he pushed him away, police said. The man fell, struck his head on the elevator door and passed out, police said. The tourist took the wallets and other items back, returned to his room and went back to sleep, police said.
Shortly before noon, New York, New York security officers were notified of an unconscious person on the floor near the elevator, and the man was taken to the hospital, police said.
Investigators located the four tourists, and after an initial consultation with the Clark County district attorney’s office, no arrests were made.
The North Las Vegas man, meanwhile, died two days later, on July 9.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/28/prosecutors-consider-charges/
This last case seems like poetic justice for the thug that stole the wallets from the hotel room.
And don't forget the mass shooting in which 7 people and wounded right down the street from Fremont Street.
Further, everyday there are numerous crimes being committed that are or not reported.
The casino's are in a panic mode, there has been several articles written and the cops are sitting around complaining that they need more cops.
Right now, the newspapers are deflecting the attention from the crimes to Minnine and Mickey Mouse, smut peddlers and people selling food and drinks on the Strip. Yes, these guys are a huge problem, but they are not the one's doing the violent crimes.
So, you would think the cops are just saturating the Strip, correct?. You also may be wrong. When we went down the Strip the other night, we saw 1 police car and the cop int he car was chatting up the film crew that was in the car with him. Other than that, no cops were seen in cars or walking. They certainly did not make their presence known.
Further, the problems, for the most part are not the visitors; the trouble is being caused locals. All the peddlers, costume wearers, and most of the thugs are locals, with the exception of the man who was killed by another tourist.
So, what can be done? Obviously, the cops have to be seen more and not to just provide material for a TV show. Drop the TV show crap and actually patrol the Strip and the surrounding areas.
The casinos need to have their security outside their casinos. Even if they cannot make an arrest, they certainly can call the police and they can detain thugs who are up to no good.
Another possibility is to have camera's installed on the Strip by Metro and Clark County.
The bottom line is that 6 deaths on the Strip over the course of about 2 weeks is going to kill the Strip and if the Strip dies, so does Las Vegas AND Nevada. Tourists are not going to come to Vegas if there is a chance they will leave Vegas in a coffin.
Great points. The Vegas Strip has to stay as safe as possible. 30 Million tourists visit every year to the Las Vegas Strip. 6 oour of 30 Million is not a huge number but it can be scary to those watching.
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