New charge filed against Gazlay in gate-ramming

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.

Prosecutors have filed another case against the alleged 311 Boyz gang member who already faces felony charges in three separate attacks in northwest Las Vegas.

In a case filed Oct. 22, Steven Gazlay, 18, is charged with another felony -- malicious destruction of private property -- in connection with a June 14 incident.

Authorities allege Gazlay rammed his vehicle through the closed gates of the Four Winds neighborhood off Durango Drive near Floyd Lamb State Park. They say the teen had four to five other vehicles following behind him when he entered the community.

Gazlay's arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 3 before District Judge Kathy Hardcastle. He is not in custody on the case and has already posted $90,000 in bail in the three other cases pending against him.

Gazlay has remained the center of national media attention surrounding the 311 Boyz, teens from affluent neighborhoods who police say are responsible for a string of violent assaults in the northwest.

Gazlay's attorney, James "Bucky" Buchanan, said he believes that is precisely the reason why prosecutors chose to file a felony charge against the teen instead of filing an insurance claim against him and repairing the gate.

Buchanan complained that the drivers of the five other cars were not prosecuted.

"(Gazlay) is the most highly visible," Buchanan said. "(Prosecutors) know they're on weak ground with the other (311 Boyz) cases and they're trying to get him any way they can."

Gazlay and eight other teens already faced 13 felony charges, including attempted murder, in an attack in a gated community in Summerlin that injured 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen.

In that case, Hansen was hit in the face with a rock that was thrown through the window of the car in which he was riding. He has had to undergo several reconstructive surgeries.

Gazlay also faces felony charges stemming from two other attacks. He faces two felony counts relating to an attack in which two teens with a crowbar and another felony charge for allegedly burning a teen with a hot butter knife.

According to court documents, the cost to repair the Four Winds gate was estimated to be nearly $6,000. Police say a woman who lives in the community was walking her dog when she noticed several vehicles pull up to the gate.

According to a police report taken at the scene, the woman said the driver of the lead vehicle, a large white truck, had spent about five minutes at the gate's computerized directory trying to get the gates to open.

"Then she stated that the male got into a 4X4 and rammed the gates very hard repeatedly causing one side to open slightly," the officer wrote. "Then she stated that two males got out of the vehicle and pushed the gates open farther."

She said the white truck and the following vehicles then entered the community and proceeded down Spanish Meadows at a high rate of speed. She said the vehicles had their headlights off.

"She told me that she believed they might be teenagers to young adults and that she saw some alcoholic containers in their hands," the officer wrote.

Another witness told police he saw a similar scene. It was unclear what the teens did once they entered the community.

The first witness gave police the license plate number of a third car, a white Chevrolet Malibu. That car was registered to a young man named Stephen Jordan, according to the report.

When contacted by police, Jordan admitted he was in the car, according to the police report. He said the teens were looking for a party and had met at a gas station previously.

"He admitted that they entered the community, but stated that he did not know who was driving the truck," the officer wrote. "He stated that he did see the truck ram the gate, but stated he didn't know the driver."

Police later tracked the truck to Gazlay's home. Gazlay said he was with some friends looking for a party when they entered the development. Gazlay told officers that the gate had closed on his vehicle as he was trying to enter.

The officer wrote: "I then informed him that there was numerous damage to the left side of his truck, as well as yellow paint, the length of the truck, and that the gates are automatic and will open automatically if a car is coming in through the entrance."

"I then asked him what he had to say about that and he had no answer," the officer wrote.

Gazlay was arrested at that time, according to the police report.

Jordan later identified Gazlay as the driver of the truck that rammed the gate. He said he did not initially identify Gazlay because he was afraid Gazlay and his friends would retaliate against him.