Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.
It's a victim's eye view of a brutal attack -- a man taking a full swing with an aluminum baseball bat at a video camera held near the face of a young woman.
After destroying the camera, he used the bat on the woman who had been holding it and on one of her friends, fracturing a skull and breaking ribs, before he began struggling with other members of their group.
Metro Police were able to recover the footage from the smashed video camera and believe it should help them identify and charge the attacker and his accomplice with attempted murder.
Metro Police Sgt. Al Cervantes of the robbery section said this morning they have received some tips since the video has been made public and detectives are following leads, but so far no arrests have been made.
"It's a random attack right now," Cervantes said. "It seems like it might be gang-turf related or robbery related."
But the place where the attack happened, Shadow Rock Park near Sunrise Mountain, is not known for gang activity, police said.
"We have no idea why this happened," 20-year-old Kristen Berwald said. "They were trying to kill us."
Berwald suffered a fractured skull and may have permanent hearing loss in her left ear from the beating she took at the park about 3 a.m. Thursday.
Deanna Saavedra, 21, the woman who had been holding the video camera, needed three stitches to close a wound under her eye, and she was left with a broken rib, a gash on her head and cuts and bruises all over her body.
The park, on Los Feliz Street near Carey Avenue in northeast Las Vegas, had long been a favorite spot for the two women and Deanna's sister, Leanna Saavedra. They often hung out there with other friends at night, admiring the view of the lights of Las Vegas Valley.
Last week they were at the park celebrating Leanna Saavedra's 23rd birthday with three other friends, including one who had a 16-month-old baby in tow.
They planned to throw a big party for Leanna on Saturday. But on her actual birthday, Wednesday, she just wanted to spend time with her closest friends, her sister said.
By about 3 a.m. Thursday, the six women were wrapping up a celebration that included Del Taco food and birthday cake.
Deanna Saavedra, 21, was behind the others, taping them as they walked along a path in the park, when she heard a voice behind her.
She turned and, not realizing he was a threat, she said "Hi" to the stranger who was walking toward her with a woman behind him.
Then she saw him pull a bat from behind his back.
"He said, 'Get that camera out of my face,' and he swung at me with a bat," Deanna Saavedra said. "He hit the camera first then he brought the bat back up and hit me in the face with it."
She fell to the ground, then he smacked her with the bat again, she said. Her sister, Leanna, grabbed the bat and the man began dragging her on the ground because she wouldn't let go, Deanna Saaverda said.
The woman who was with the man pulled Deanna from behind, choking her and pulling her hair, she said, while the man punched her in the face.
"When I was on the ground he asked for all of our money," she said. "I cried to him, 'Please, leave us alone because we don't have any money.' "
The women had left their purses in their cars.
Then, Berwald said, the man struck her in the head with the bat "like he was trying to hit a home run."
The woman who was with him punched Berwald while she was on the ground until one of Berwald's friends, Krystal Hight, pulled the woman away from Berwald.
The attackers ran off and jumped into a car without taking anything from the victims.
Berwald and Deanna Saavedra, the most seriously injured, were taken to University Medical Center by ambulance. The other women did not require medical attention. The baby slept through the attack. The baby's mother was able to get the child away from the attacker.
Berwald was released from the hospital Sunday and is continuing her recuperation at home. She and Deanna Saavedra are not expected to be able to return to their restaurant jobs for several weeks.
"We have no idea at all why this happened, no idea," Deanna Saavedra said. "We were trying to go through it and figure out why they did this. We don't know who they are. We did nothing to them.
"We went there all the time and never had any trouble."
She said she doubts they will return to the park.
On her doctor's advice, Deanna Saavedra withdrew Monday from classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is on pain medication and is unable to concentrate enough to study.
She had been studying criminal justice. Now she and her friends want to see justice meted out to the criminals who attacked them.
"At first we were sad and confused but now we're angry," Deanna Saavedra said. "We're the type of people who are always very cordial and nice to people. Now I'm not going to trust anybody."
The male attacker is described as Hispanic, about 20 years old, between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 and 160 to 180 pounds. He has a medium build and short black hair that may be shaved.
He was accompanied by a Hispanic female appearing 17 to 20 years old, between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 7 and 130 to 150 pounds. She has medium-length brown hair.
They left the area with another man and woman in a 1970s to 1980s four-door Cadillac, possibly a Sedan Deville. It is described as having tinted windows, hubcaps and is possibly primer gray.
Anyone with information is asked to call Metro at 229-3591 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
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