Nine teens charged in attack on three others

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 | 11:22 a.m.

Prosecutors have levied felony charges against nine teenage boys who authorities allege waged a violent attack on three other teen boys at a party in a gated community by pummeling the boys with rocks and beer bottles.

A criminal complaint filed Friday charges the boys with 13 felony counts, including attempted murder, battery and mayhem, all with the use of a deadly weapon.

The teens will be charged in the adult court system, Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent said.

In Nevada, children 8 and older charged with serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder and some sexual assaults are automatically certified as adults.

The July 18 attack left Stephen Tanner Hansen with life threatening injuries. Hansen's friends, Craig Arnett Lefevre and Joe Grill suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Authorities say the attack was gang-related and that the alleged victims were targeted for not being part of a gang called the 311 Boyz.

None of the alleged victims was a minority, according to police.

Police recommended an additional enhancement of committing a crime to promote a criminal gang, which would automatically double the penalty if convicted, but prosecutors have not added that to the charges.

Laurent said the enhancement would be difficult to prove because prosecutors would have to show that the gang has committed crimes in the past.

"Because it is a new gang, it is more difficult to prove those predicate offenses," he said. "We don't think it's a necessary at this point based on the charges that we have."

The teens charged are Ernest Bradley Aguilar, 17, Steven Gazley, 18, Jeff Hart, 17, 16-year-old twins Anthony and Brandon Gallion, Mathew Costello, 17, Christopher Farley, 18, Dominic Harriman, 19, and Scott Morse, 18.

Aguilar, Pitaro, Gazley, Hart and the Gallion brothers made their first appearance this morning in Justice Court after being arrested Friday. Their preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 8.

They were being held at the Clark County Detention Center with bail set at $40,000 each.

As of this morning Costello, Harriman and Morse were not in custody but a warrant had been issued for their arrest.

But some attorneys defending the boys said this morning that their clients did not take part in the attacks.

James "Bucky" Buchanan, who represents Gazley, said his client was arrested Friday and taken out of his office in handcuffs.

Buchanan said police made the arrest after Gazley refused to give a statement.

"He denied all culpability, but he was present when a lot of this stuff happened," Buchanan said.

Buchanan said his client has no prior criminal record and that prosecutors could be too hasty in their approach to the case.

"He's a clean kid," he said. "The state is pushing this hard and I don't think they have all the details."

Defense attorney Sean Sullivan, who represents Hart, said his client did not participate in the attack either.

"It's my understanding that there is a self-defense issue for many of the defendants," he said. "It's our position that Mr. Hart did not take part in this act of violence."

Hart faces charges in a separate case in Juvenile Court, Sullivan said. Juvenile court records, however, are confidential.

Laurent said he doesn't expect that any additional people will be charged in the case, but that if new information emerges prosecutors will "rigorously pursue" those suspects.

'We believe we have charged those people who will be charged," he said. "Of course, anyone who actually assisted in the crime can be charged."

Authorities say the events unfolded July 18 at a party at a home in the gated community of Canyon Terrace on Canyon Mesa Drive. Laurent said the home was still under construction and appeared to be empty.

Police say Hansen, Lefevre and Grill went to the party but were singled out for not being members of the gang and for being with a girlfriend of one of the gang members.

They say the teens felt unwelcome and tried to leave but the nine suspects lined the roadway and launched rocks at the alleged victims as they tried to drive out of the community.

Hansen, who was hit by the rocks, suffered broken bones and extensive facial injuries, and doctors had to reconstruct his face with two titanium plates, police say.

Police say he could also lose the sight in his left eye.

Lefevre and Grill received numerous cuts from the flying glass.

According to a police report obtained by the Sun, when the trio climbed into Lefevre's white Toyota Tacoma pickup to leave the party, "a large crowd estimated between 40 and 80 kids got behind their vehicle to prevent them from leaving."

Gazley and Harriman then pulled down the tailgate to Lefevre's truck and sat down on the tailgate, the report states.

According to the report, Costello reached into the truck and began punching Lefevre while the surrounding crowd "started throwing beer bottles and rocks at his truck."

Lefevre began speeding toward the gate of the community and hit T.J. Carter, who police say was standing in front of his vehicle. Lefevre's truck was then hit from behind by a vehicle being driven by Aguilar, the report states.

According to the report, Lefevre, in an attempt to escape Aguilar, rammed the exit gate and headed east onto Canyon Run with Aguilar's vehicle pursuing him.

As the chase continued, Farley, Morse, Hart and the Gallion brothers "pick(ed) up rocks and jump(ed) the fence and station(ed) themselves along the roadway waiting for Lefevre to drive past," then they threw the rocks at the truck as it passed, the officer wrote.

Farley, Morse, Hart and the Gallion brothers face an additional charge of throwing a substance at or willfully damaging a motor vehicle.

Costello faces an additional burglary charge in connection with climbing into Lefevre's vehicle and assaulting him.

The teens could face more than 100 years in prison if convicted, Laurent said.