Man gunned down after argument at local bar

Keith Paul

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

A 25-year-old man was gunned down this morning after an argument in front of a Las Vegas bar that was the scene of a similar slaying last year.

The man and some friends were in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of the El Potrero bar on Sahara Avenue at Maryland Parkway about 4:20 a.m. and got into a argument with another group of men, said Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro Police's homicide unit.

As the argument got heated, one of the men took out a gun and handed it to Sergio Hernandez, 22, of Las Vegas. Hernandez is then accused of shooting the 25-year-old man several times before fleeing.

The other men jumped back into their vehicle, threw it into reverse and took off after the fleeing group.

Hearing the commotion outside, a bar security guard came outside and fired a couple shots at the dead man's friends who were chasing after the suspect, Petersen said. No one was injured by those shots.

The men in the sport utility vehicle caught up with the gunman across the street in the parking lot of a grocery store, took the weapon away from him and beat him with it, police said.

"The victim was taken to (University Medical Center) where he died and the suspect was taken to the hospital where he was stitched up and then booked into the (Clark County) jail on murder (charges)," Petersen said.

On December 10, El Potrero was the scene of another homicide. About 4:15 a.m. that morning, a man who had been kicked out of the bar returned to the area with a gun and fired several shots at the front door while standing in the parking lot.

Pedro Sanchez-Garcia, 29, of Las Vegas, was shot and killed. Two others standing in the area were wounded, but survived their injuries. No one has been apprehended in connection with the Dec. 10 slaying.

Today's slaying was the 74th homicide so far this year in Metro's jurisdiction compared with 86 at the same time last year.