Fight between Florida tourist and girlfriend turns violent

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.

A convicted sex offender from Florida was arrested at the Golden Nugget on Sunday for allegedly trying to kill his girlfriend after she became upset that he was taking pictures of other women.

Omniel Ortiz, 28, was taken into custody on charges of attempted murder and first-degree kidnapping after a hotel security officer witnessed Ortiz attacking the woman in the hallway outside their room, according to a police report.

The hotel security officer told Metro Police officers that given the level of violence he observed, he thought the woman might have been killed if he hadn't intervened.

Because Ortiz, a Florida resident, was found to have been in the area for longer than 48 hours and had not registered as a sex offender, he was also charged with that offense.

Ortiz and his girlfriend of 1 1/2 years came to Las Vegas from Florida on April 11 for a vacation.

In the hotel security office Ortiz told Metro he had consumed about 10 beers and about a half-liter of rum and had become enraged when his girlfriend confronted him about taking photogaphs of other women since their arrival in Las Vegas. She had also accused him of cheating on her, Ortiz complained to police.

His girlfriend reported that sometime before 4 a.m. he threw luggage around their room and attacked her, trying to choke her on the bed, the police report says.

She managed to run from the room but he grabbed her in the hall and tried to drag her back, then allegedly began choking her again.

Ortiz confessed to the attack, then recanted and said he never hit her and didn't know how she had sustained her injuries, suggesting that he may have hugged her too hard, the police report says.

Police records show Ortiz was convicted in 1998 of sexual battery with a weapon.