Two arrested in violent crime spree

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

Police have arrested two men who are allegedly connected to a home invasion robbery and three shootings, one of which was fatal.

"They're very dangerous," Metro Police Lt. Jim Moses said of the duo. "This makes our streets a little safer."

Murder charges are pending against both men, police said.

Joseph Antonetti, 27, was arrested Monday night after barricading himself in a storage shed near Ann Road and Simmons Street in North Las Vegas. He was charged with attempted murder and a firearms offense.

Michael Bartoli, 25, was arrested Sunday at a house near Owens and Eastern Avenues and charged with four counts of robbery and kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

The crime spree began Nov. 5 when Antonetti began arguing with his 33-year-old female roommate in their home in the 1400 block of South 11th St., police said. He allegedly shot her with a .25-caliber handgun and left her for dead.

The woman survived, and told police Antonetti shot her.

In an unrelated attack a few days later, Bartoli and an unidentified man allegedly committed a home invasion robbery in the 3800 block of North Nellis Boulevard.

The robbers allegedly held guns on the residents. One of the victims knew Bartoli and told police he was one of the attackers, so police obtained a warrant for his arrest.

Police say Bartoli committed additional crimes while they were looking for him.

He had gotten kicked out of the place where he was living, and a friend named Shawn let Bartoli keep some of his personal belongings in his car. But Shawn decided to move to California, and dumped Bartoli's belongings in a garbage bin, Moses said.

Enraged, Bartoli went to an apartment in the 3800 block of Stober Avenue on Dec. 1 because he thought the residents knew where to find Shawn. Bartoli brought Antonetti with him, and they confronted Mary Amina, 20, and a man in the apartment, Moses said.

"They got into a conversation, and it got a little heated," he said. Antonetti, whom Moses said was the "muscle" of the two, pulled out a gun and shot Amina and the man in the face.

Amina died the next day, but the man survived and told police Bartoli and Antonetti did it.

Members of the Criminal Apprehension Team, a multi-jurisdictional task force made up of officers from Metro, Henderson Police and the FBI, got a tip that led them to Bartoli.