Metro follows leads in beating

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001 | 11:11 a.m.

Metro Police are closer to rounding up and questioning a group of teenagers suspected in the near-fatal beating of a homeless man last month, investigators said.

The 56-year-old homeless man, who was attacked Dec. 27 in an area near A Street and Owens Avenue while sleeping, has been upgraded to serious condition in University Medical Center and no longer needs life support equipment to keep him alive.

"We have the names of possible suspects and have several leads to follow," said Sgt. Dan McGrath of Metro's juvenile unit. "They were six to eight juveniles, and one was bound to tell a friend or someone in school."

Police are searching not only for the group of teens who beat and kicked the homeless man, but the motive behind the attack. The teens could face charges of attempted murder as adults.

A group of teens were seen by Ron Travis, another homeless man camped in the area, kicking and beating his friend he knew as Arthur. Travis frightened them off and called 911.

The teens were seen running from the area, leading police to suspect the teens lived nearby, McGrath said.

Police are still trying to verify the victim's name. He was able to give a name, but he still has a tracheal tube in his throat and speaking is very difficult for him, McGrath said.

News about the man's attack was being passed among the homeless population in the area in the days after the beating, but as time passes, the homeless are no longer talking much about the incident.

"The only person who asks how he's doing now is the man who witnessed the attack," said Officer Eric Fricker, who works with the homeless through a Metro program. "It is a big deal to them, but they are dealing with daily survival like 'where am I going to sleep and where can I get something to eat.' "

Fricker said that since the attack he has seen homeless people camping together in greater numbers.

The homeless are at greater risk of being targeted for attacks by teens or others looking for an easy target, said Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, who wrote the book "The Outsider," a look at his father's mental illness, homelessness and death.

"We are taught to not look at or treat the homeless as people in our culture," said Lachenmeyer of Washington D.C. "The way our culture is (toward the homeless) can lead to the type of sadism of the beating."

Lachenmeyer praised Metro for continuing the investigation of the homeless man's beating.

Fricker said Metro is committed to giving the homeless population the same level of service as any other community in the Las Vegas Valley.

"We have stepped up patrols in the area (of the beating)," he said. "They are very vulnerable population because they can't just lock their doors or call the police when they need help."

Anyone with information in the beating is asked to call Metro's juvenile unit at 229-3561 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.