Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | 11:21 a.m.
The man suspected in two dozen sniper shootings along Ohio highways was arrested this morning by Metro Police after a local man recognized him at the Stardust and tipped police.
Charles A. McCoy Jr., 28, was taken into custody at 2:45 a.m. after he pulled up to his first-floor room at the Budget Suites motel on Industrial Road near the Stardust. He was registered under his own name.
"He put up no resistance," Officer Jose Montoya, Metro spokesman, said.
McCoy was named as a suspect in the Ohio shootings on Monday. There have been two dozen highway sniper shootings. One person was killed.
McCoy was arrested on an Ohio warrant on charges of shooting into an occupied residence. He was being held this morning as local authorities waited for detectives from Ohio to arrive.
Authorities plan to extradite McCoy. It was unclear when he would be in court to face charges and an extradition hearing.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that a ballistic test of one of McCoy's guns matched bullet fragments found at the scene of some of sniper shootings.
Police learned about McCoy's stay in Las Vegas after Conrad Malsom, 60, spotted him at the Stardust sports book about noon Tuesday. Malsom had just read a story about McCoy in USA Today.
Malsom and a friend were sharing a large pizza at the sports book and had a few pieces they couldn't finish, he said this morning while standing outside the Budget Suites.
"I offered it to a young man sitting two seats away," Malsom said. "When he turned to accept my offer I knew exactly who I was talking to. ... I didn't believe he was anyone other than Charles A. McCoy Jr."
McCoy was wearing a black "Oakley" T-shirt, well-worn jeans and a "five-day growth beard," Malsom said. He also had a copy of USA Today.
Malsom watched McCoy for an hour as the suspected sniper made $1 and $2 bets on horse racing. When McCoy started to leave, Malsom approached him.
"I shook his hand and said, 'I'm glad you liked the pizza. It looks like you're having a good time. What's your name?' " Malsom said.
He said his name was Mike, and he was staying at a nearby motel.
McCoy left, drifting off into the Stardust. Thinking authorities wouldn't believe that he had seen McCoy, Malsom pocketed a Stardust matchbook McCoy had used, a glass, a plastic deli food container and a few sports book line sheets with illegible scribblings McCoy had written in blue ink.
Malsom called the Ohio law enforcement phone number in the newspaper story, but he had lost sight of McCoy. He drove to Kinko's to fax McCoy's scribblings to police in Ohio.
He went to the FBI office in Las Vegas, told agents his story and gave them the items he had collected from the sports book.
At a press conference this morning, Metro Police Lt. Ted Lee of the Criminal Apprehension Team said officers received information that McCoy could be in Las Vegas in the afternoon.
Metro detectives began looking for McCoy at the Stardust, Lee said.
Meanwhile, Malsom drove to a friend's house in Southern Highlands where he looked up articles on McCoy on the Internet and scrutinized his picture. He read in some of the stories that McCoy had left home Friday and left a note for his family saying he went to a video arcade.
Malsom also noted McCoy's license plate number.
Thinking he might get lucky, Malsom went to Gameworks on the Strip looking for McCoy. Malsom also asked Stardust employees if McCoy was a registered guest there.
Since "Mike" told him he was staying at a nearby hotel, he went to the Budget Suites.
As he drove his silver Cadillac through the Budget Suites parking lot around 11:30 p.m., the unemployed salesman spotted a green Geo Metro with Ohio plates. It was McCoy's car.
"I think my heart skipped a couple of times," Malsom said, shaking his head. Before seeing the car, there was still a bit of doubt lingering in his mind. But the car convinced him the man was definitely McCoy.
Malsom called Metro and Ohio authorities just before midnight.
Montoya, the police spokesman, said Metro received several calls from citizens Tuesday who said they thought they had spotted McCoy.
McCoy left his room just after Malsom called police.
Montoya said police got a call from a detective in Ohio around the same time who said they had received a tip that McCoy was at the Budget Suites.
Metro's general assignment detectives, patrol officers and members of the Criminal Apprehension Team, the fugitive task force that includes Metro police and FBI agents, set up surveillance in the room next to McCoy's.
McCoy pulled up about 2:45 a.m.
"He exits his vehicle, detectives approach him and once they handcuff him they ask him his name and he says Charles McCoy," Montoya said. McCoy was not armed.
McCoy's sister Amy Walton told NBC's "Today" show that her brother was troubled but peaceful.
"I knew it would happen without incident because he was a very passive individual," she said. "This came as a great shock to our family."
Authorities believe McCoy has been in Las Vegas for about a day and a half.
He was being held at the Las Vegas FBI office on Charleston Boulevard near Las Vegas Boulevard this morning.
There is no federal arrest warrant for McCoy, and FBI agents were waiting for Ohio police detectives to interview him.
Metro Police obtained a search warrant for McCoy's room and were combing through it this morning. The car he was driving has been sealed and impounded at the FBI office.
Lee credited Malsom for helping find McCoy, who had been wanted since May.
"It's always important for the public to maintain awareness," he said. "The information that was provided by the public was extremely important in this case and the civilian who provided the information was persistent and apparently did a little of his own investigating."
Detectives from Ohio were expected to arrive in Las Vegas to interview him, then book him into the Clark County Detention Center.
McCoy will appear before a judge in justice court for an extradition hearing unless he waives the hearing and agrees to be sent back to Ohio.
"We will take the appropriate steps to extradite Mr. McCoy back to Ohio," FBI Special Agent in Charge Ellen Knowlton said.
Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry, who has some detectives on the CAT team, said the team "does a remarkable job of keeping this community and the nation safe."
He added: "I think there is a perception out there that if you are a fugitive you can come to Las Vegas to hide or blend in. If fugitives think they can hide in Las Vegas my advice is don't come here because we will find you."
Malsom said he didn't search for McCoy to gain public recognition.
"I'm not a hero," he said. "I don't feel like a hero. I have pride perhaps in accomplishing what my persistence was intended for."
Budget Suite guests woke up to find reporters gathered outside their motel.
Annie DiBello of northern Ohio came out of her first-floor room holding a cup of black coffee.
"It's like, man, he followed me out here," she said with a chuckle.
Al and Fran Iacobelli of Newark, Ohio, just east of Columbus, were staying above McCoy. They had a niece and nephew who had to drive daily on the stretch of I-270 where the sniper was most active.
"This (arrest) is sure going to relieve a lot of people who had to drive that outer belt," Al Iacobelli said.
"I had joked with my daughter last night that I suppose they will find him in Vegas, never dreaming they would catch him here the next morning," Fran Iacobelli said.
The couple has come to Las Vegas annually for the past 12 years and always stay at that Budget Suites.
They hadn't noticed McCoy.
Robert Collins, who lives near Bowling Green, Ohio, a few hours from where the shootings occurred in Columbus, said the sniper story was huge back home.
"Big time," he said. His granddaughter, who attended Ohio State University in Columbus, used to drive the highway where most of the shootings occurred.
"She had no fear, I guess," he said, adding that he will have a great story to tell his family and friends when he gets back to the Buckeye State.
Jerry Cranford, who has lived in the Budget Suites for three years, didn't expect McCoy to surface at his home, but he wasn't surprised he turned up in Las Vegas.
"Las Vegas is a melting pot and everyone comes here to hide," he said.
Sun reporters
Jace Radke, Christina Littlefield and Mary Manning contributed to this story.
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