Gang members blamed for fight at Lake Mead

Cathy Scott

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A fight early today at Lake Mead between teenage gang members high on paint fumes and a separate group of teenagers ended in a stabbing, National Park Service Ranger Bob Belden said.

Five teens were "light drinking, swimming and socializing" at the Cliffs off North Shore Road at Gypsum Wash when the gang members -- eight males and three or four girls, all wearing the same gang-affiliated T-shirts -- threw bottles and a two-by-four at them, Belden said.

The gang members also asked for money, he said.

The nongang members tried to get away, Belden said. As they did, one of them, who had a knife, slashed it through the air "in a defensive mode" as they ran to their car to drive away, he said.

One of the gang members who followed the fleeing teens was stabbed in his armpit and lower rib cage, Belden said.

The five nongang teens drove to Henderson where they flagged down a police officer, who called an ambulance for two teens who were injured. The two were taken to St. Rose Dominican Hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The gang members drove the stabbing victim to Lake Mead Hospital Medical Center in North Las Vegas, which transferred him to University Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery, Belden said. The unidentified victim was in serious condition this morning.

An early determination was that the stabbing was done in self-defense, Belden said.

Both groups were in their lates teens and early 20s, Belden said. Their names have not been released. Most of the gang members had police records for graffiti, and one had been convicted of two counts of attempted murder, Belden said. The nongang members did not have police records, he said.

"It was a mess out there," Belden said.