Homeless man targeted in vicious attack

Keith Paul

Friday, Dec. 29, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

They live on the edge of society and are faced daily with people who avoid eye contact. But sometimes the homeless are sought out -- by thugs looking for easy victims.

A 56-year-old homeless man was an easy victim Wednesday night. The man, identified by his friends as Arthur, was sleeping about 8:30 p.m. in his spot -- an area near A Street and Owens Avenue -- when a group of teenagers started kicking him and stomping on him.

"They were kicking him in the head, kicking him in the ribs, stomping on his face," said Ron Travis, a homeless man who was camped close by and said he scared off the pack of six to eight teenagers by picking up a big rock and walking at them.

Arthur was in critical condition on life support in University Medical Center this morning. Metro Police are investigating the beating and suspect the teens live nearby. No arrests had been made.

After the teens ran away Travis went down the street to the Salvation Army and called 911.

"He didn't say anything to them. He had his blankets over his head. That's the way he sleeps," said Travis, 62. "I didn't hear them say anything before they started. I just heard Arthur (grunting) when he was being kicked."

Homeless people could be an attractive victim for those looking for someone to beat on because the thinking is they are unlikely to contact the police or be believed.

"We're like the pigeons," said Bob Iaukea, 47, who lives near the Salvation Army homeless center.

But Iaukea and other homeless people said they are not often the victims of bands of teenagers or others. Mostly these men and women keep to themselves and camp in numbers large enough to deter crimes against them.

Metro Police Officer Eric Fricker said homeless people do face the danger of crime to a greater degree than the rest of society.

"They can't lock their doors," said Fricker, who works with the homeless. "But this (attack) really concerns us because it sounds like he was a target of opportunity. If they do it once, they may do it again."

The area's homeless population has been listed as low as 6,700 and as high as about 18,000. Many homeless advocates put the population somewhere between those numbers.

There are as many as 4,000 homeless people who either live or seek services in an area known as the homeless corridor -- Bonanza Road to Owens Avenue and A Street to Las Vegas Boulevard, Fricker said.

"They face everything you and I do and 100 times more," Fricker said. "They are the most victimized group. They are vulnerable, and they do not contact the police as much as we would like."

Iaukea said when something happens to a homeless person by a teen or another nonhomeless person, the police generally aren't called.

"It's our word against some upstanding citizen, so who are you going to believe?" he said.

A man camped near Iaukea said he hasn't run into problems with teens or others.

"I don't know why teenagers would want to mess with the homeless," said the man who didn't want to give his name. "There are some crazy-looking people out here. There's one guy who plays with his beard all day and hasn't changed his clothes in a year."

Bob Corcoran, who has been homeless in Las Vegas since October 1999, said he's never experienced an unprovoked attack such as the one Wednesday night, but he said teenagers tend to be the ones who yell and throw things at homeless people.

"Sometimes you have to worry about the kids," he said. "But really, I haven't had problems at all."

But with one group of teenagers having already attacked a sleeping homeless man, more attacks could occur, said Bill Provost of the Salvation Army.

"It doesn't happen often, but it does seem to come in waves," said Provost, who was homeless for six years. "Homeless are just easier targets because people think they won't be missed."

Provost said in the eight years he's worked for the Salvation Army he's heard about a half dozen to a dozen incidents where a homeless person was attacked by someone other than another homeless person.

Travis' actions to protect his friend show that just because people are homeless it doesn't mean there aren't those who care about them. After Travis scared off the teens and called 911, he hustled back up the street to make sure the teens didn't return.

"He's (Arthur) a good guy and mostly kept to himself," he said. "There was no reason for them to do that."