Terror threat fades but police make record arrests

Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 10:33 a.m.

In the dawn of the new year, the specter of a terrorist attack at "America's Party" on the Las Vegas Strip faded, but police noted there had been a sharp increase in the number of arrests compared with the previous year.

A total of 140 people were arrested overnight on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas, police said. Only 23 people were arrested during previous New Year's celebration.

Police said the increase was due to the fact that they had more police at this year's party and they were under a heightened alert status.

About 1,000 Metro Police and corrections officers were joined by 4,000 private security guards at Strip resorts to keep revelers safe in that part of the valley. About 300 more officers were in downtown Las Vegas monitoring the crowd of about 15,000 people in and around the Fremont Street Experience.

"Things went relatively well," Metro Deputy Chief Mike Ault said about 12:45 a.m. Thursday. "It was an average crowd on the Strip, pretty well behaved."

Like the previous year, though, most of the Strip and Fremont Street arrests Wednesday night and early Thursday were for public intoxication and fighting. Police also had to deal with shootings and stabbings before the New Year's revelry was done, but most of those took place away from the Strip and downtown.

Perhaps the worst violence of the New Year's period was a shooting about 2 a.m. Thursday at the SRO Club in the 1700 block of East Flamingo Road near Spencer Street, Metro Lt. Chris Braden said.

The victim, a man whose name had not been released late Thursday, was shot in the head and was in critical condition at University Medical Center Trauma Center, Braden said.

On the Strip the biggest problem was a fight that broke out involving about 100 people, some throwing bottles, near the CVS Pharmacy at Harmon Avenue about 12:15 a.m..

Police officers broke the fight up and Ault described it as "a lot of kids and alcohol." There were no arrests made.

At 12:25 a.m. Thursday another fight started near Treasure Island, involving eight people. One man was arrested for assault on an officer after a Metro officer was punched in the eye and taken to University Medical Center for treatment. She was released shortly after treatment.

Seven juveniles were among those taken into custody for that fight, police said. The arrests were for drunk and disorderly behavior, police said.

"We expected the fights," Ault said. "We don't like stabbings, but they happen. When you get that many people together, it's hard to control everything."

A man was stabbed about 12:15 a.m. Thursday in the rear of the Aladdin hotel. He was taken to University Medical Center. He refused to cooperate with police, Braden said.

In downtown Las Vegas a man was hit in the arm by a stray bullet at the Fremont hotel about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday. Police believed the slug came from someone firing a gun into the air. They had no suspects in custody. As for the terrorism concerns that resulted in federal reviews of hotel registration records, a ban on nonairline air traffic and a flock of law enforcement helicopters above the Strip, Ault said, "I don't think we overreacted. I think we put into place what we will do next year."

"We did a well-orchestrated effort with the feds to control the skies," Ault said. The helicopters that patrolled over the Strip did not intercept any aircraft, authorities said.