Tourists attacked in Circus Circus lot

Cheryl Miller

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

Two tourists remained hospitalized this morning after they were stabbed Thursday night during a robbery in the Circus Circus parking lot.

A 64-year-old man was stabbed several times in the abdomen and his 60-year-old wife was slashed in the face as they tried to fend off their attacker shortly before 10:30 p.m.

The man was listed in critical condition and the woman was in fair condition, a University Medical Center spokeswoman said today.

Metro Police are still looking for the man who stabbed the couple. Police are not releasing the victims' names and their hometown was not immediately available.

Police say the couple, accompanied by at least two children, were getting out of their car in the parking lot when they were attacked by a knife-wielding man.

"It appears to be a robbery at this time," Metro Police spokesman Steve Meriwether said. "He took some items from the victims."

After the attack, the man ran out of the parking lot and got into a waiting car that was last seen speeding away on Industrial Road, Meriwether said. No description of the getaway car was available.

Police found the couple just south of the casino's Grandslam Canyon Adventure Dome.

The children accompanying the couple were uninjured, and police took them into protective custody.

Some of the details of the stabbing remained unclear this morning, Meriwether said, and it was also not clear how many children were with the couple and what their ages are.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-7 Hispanic man with a shaved head. Police say he weighs about 140 pounds and was last seen wearing a blue V-neck T-shirt over a white or yellow shirt and blue knee-length shorts.

Meriwether said robbery detectives were investigating several leads and may be able to put together a sketch of the suspect.

An employee in Circus Circus' corporate communications office said the hotel-casino was still reviewing the incident and may issue a statement later today.

She referred all other questions to Metro Police.