2 teens accused of home invasions

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 | 11:41 a.m.

Their getaway vehicles were bicycles, and they kept a loaded gun in a backpack, police say.

A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old accused of three home invasions in northeast Las Vegas were identified because a witness recognized one of them as a Desert Pines High School athlete and Pop Warner League football player.

In one case, one of the teens laughed at the victims and allegedly fired a .38-caliber handgun at one, hitting her house. No one was hurt.

"This callous disregard for human life is rarely seen in the juvenile system," a probation officer wrote in court paperwork filed against Aaron Rovan Hunt, 15 and Samuel Lee Clay Jr., 16.

Hunt and Clay were scheduled to be arraigned today in connection with a June 30 crime spree in which they allegedly stole video games, DVDs, cash and jewelry from three homes.

Jonathan Vanboskerck, a Clark County deputy district attorney who handles juvenile cases, said Las Vegas "is becoming like a little L.A. in that we have lots of kids with guns, but rarely do they pull the trigger."

After being held in a juvenile detention facility for more than two months, the two teens were certified by a judge to stand trial as adults and were transferred to Clark County Detention Center. Vanboskerck pointed out that if they had shot someone, the cases would have immediately been handled by the adult system.

Hunt is being held on $91,000 bail and Clay's bail is $85,000, according to court records.

According to the records:

On the afternoon of June 30, two women were listening to music in their home in the 4800 block of East Monroe Avenue when they heard a noise downstairs, according to police reports. They spotted two teenage boys running from the house.

One of the boys turned around and fired a gun at them, the report says. It's not clear which boy fired the shot.

"He started to laugh at me and shot at me," Vanessa Verdin told police.

They ran to bicycles that were stashed in the bushes and pedaled away down Monroe Avenue. Neighbors recognized Clay from various sports teams, and they flagged down a Metro officer.

Police found the boys at a home in the 700 block of Lincoln Road, near Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard. They allegedly ran from the house, jumped on their bikes and started to ride off, but officers stopped them.

Hunt fought with officers when they arrested him, the report says. Police found a gun in the backpack he was carrying. Records showed it had been reported stolen.

Clay allegedly told police he and Hunt kicked in the doors of two other homes before invading the home on Monroe. Clay also said, however, that the duo didn't steal anything, according to the report.

Officers went to the two homes Clay had talked about, both in the area of Pecos Road and Washington Avenue, and discovered that a DVD player, $1,000 cash and $4,000 in jewelry had been stolen from one house, the report says. A Nintendo GameCube and games, jewelry and DVDs were stolen from the other.

Hunt told police they were trying to get money so they could go to the Strip later in the night, the report says. Clay alllegedly said he had a drug and alcohol problem that impaired his judgment. They both said they associate with gang members, but did not admit to being in a gang.

Clay was a student at Desert Pines High School last year, a Clark County School District spokeswoman said. The district had no record of Hunt attending school in Clark County. He moved to Las Vegas from Chicago two years ago.

When a juvenile probation officer talked to Hunt's mother, she said he appeared to have potential as a basketball player and had won numerous awards, but drugs and alcohol became more important to him.

Clay's mother never returned the probation officer's phone calls, the report says, and Hunt's mother said the boy had been staying at her house.