Alleged 311 Boyz leader to face charges

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 | 9:59 a.m.

Prosecutors have pressed charges against a 23-year-old Las Vegas man police believe is the leader of the 311 Boyz.

Adam "Taz" Henry faces a battery charge in connection with the May 17 beating of 20-year-old Sean Quinn, who police say was attacked in a desert near Centennial Parkway and the Las Vegas Beltway.

Police reports obtained by the Sun allege Henry was one of the men who attacked Quinn while dozens of other teens watched. They say Steven Gazlay, 18, also joined in the fight and attacked Quinn with a crowbar.

Gazlay also faces a battery charge in the incident.

Gazlay already faces 13 felony charges in District Court, along with eight other alleged members of the 311 gang.

The teens are charged in a separate incident in which 17-year-old Steven Tanner Hansen sustained serious injuries when he was hit with a rock. The teens were expected to appear in court this morning.

Police say Henry and Gazlay instigated an argument with Quinn, then attacked him.

"Those two subjects were said to be responsible for the fight and direct participants in the beating of Sean Quinn," according to the police report.

Quinn suffered a broken jaw, a broken nose, cuts and scrapes during the attack. He will also have metal plates put in his jaw to secure his skeletal structure, according to the report.

Police believe Henry could be one of the leaders of the gang, which police say is responsible for several violent attacks in northwest neighborhoods during the summer.

Several of those attacks were captured on a videotape that was released Tuesday.

Following the incident, Quinn told officers that it was "Taz who started the trouble with him and if Taz hadn't been there the whole thing probably wouldn't have happened."

Quinn said Henry knocked him to the ground and he was then attacked by the rest of the 311 Boyz. Quinn told police he was rescued by one of his friends.

The officer who wrote the report said he believes Henry has influence over the rest of the gang members, most of whom are teenagers.

Police believe Henry set Quinn up and then signaled the other gang members to attack Quinn.

"Several members of the gang have spoken of him and have stated that they are afraid of (Henry)," the officer wrote. "According to the members who were talked to reference Taz, he portrays himself as a tough L.A. gangster."