Police have tied some of the young men accused of beating an MGM Grand worker to one of the largest criminal gangs in the Las Vegas Valley, according to a police report.
A heavily redacted arrest report for 18-year-old Demarcus Smith, one of seven suspects arrested in the case so far, also includes portions of a police interview with Smith and another suspect in which a detective suggests the MGM attack and other assaults carried out by a group of 10 to 15 black youths might have been racially motivated.
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"It should also be noted that all of the victims in every event were all white," Las Vegas police Detective Travis Ivie wrote in the report.
"When asked, (name redacted) and Demarcus could give me no reason, none whatsoever on why they attacked and brutally attacked these persons. They were asked if this had any gang involvement. They said they didn't know. I asked if it was just for fun. They stated no. They could give me no legitimate reason other than that I could figure that this is a hate crime."
The police department did not authorize Ivie to discuss his report with the media. All information about the case is being routed through the department's designated spokesman, Sgt. Chris Jones. When asked about Ivie's "hate crime" statement, Jones said detectives have not concluded the incident was a racial hate crime but are still investigating that possibility.
"To make it a race crime, you have to have more than just one race attacking another," Jones said. "Were there racial slurs said? Was there racist graffiti left behind? You need other indicators that the crime was based on race."
The arrest report also discloses that when detectives searched Smith's home and the homes of other suspects in the MGM-related cases last week, the officers found "gang paraphernalia" and pictures of Smith, his 17-year-old brother and some of the other suspects "throwing gang signs."
"They also have gang ties to the gang 'Donna Street,' " the report states, "due to the fact that (name redacted) is a documented 'Donna Street' member, that these individuals are seen wearing certain colors, they hang out at certain addresses and have been involved in several crimes and search warrants but never booked."
According to police, "Donna Street" is a shortening of Donna Street Crips, one of the Las Vegas Valley's most populous and violent gangs.
"Donna Street Crips is one of the oldest gangs in the valley," said Las Vegas police Lt. Lewis Roberts, a former commander of the gang crimes unit.
Named for a central thoroughfare in North Las Vegas, the gang has "been around since the late '70s, early '80s," Roberts said.
The Smith brothers' parents said Tuesday their sons are not gang members.
"The media is portraying them as hard-core, gang member criminals, and they're not that," said Sonya Smith, their mother.
She and husband, Dexter Smith Sr., said the photos police removed from their home depict nothing sinister.
The pictures show 10 boys posing in matching outfits after they had finished a dance number at a black history assembly at Cimarron-Memorial High School, the parents said.
Police initially had said no evidence suggested racism or gangs were tied to the MGM attack or the six other group attacks under investigation.
Jones said Tuesday that police made those statements only days into the investigation, when only one suspect was in custody.
The report made public Tuesday states that police recovered the gang paraphernalia from two other suspects' homes in addition to the Smith home: the homes of their 18-year-old friend Daryle Williams, and a fourth suspect whom police have not named or arrested. That last suspect's name is redacted from the report. Williams, the Smith brothers and four other suspects have all been charged with multiple felonies.
"At all three locations several pieces of gang paraphernalia were found such as shirts, pictures, do rags, photos of these same individuals doing hand gestures, wearing shirts with writing on them which would, in my training and experience, be part of a gang," Detective Ivie wrote in the report.
Williams' attorney said Tuesday his client is neither a racist nor a gangster.
"It's 100 percent false. Daryle has never been in a gang," attorney Brian Bloomfield said. "He has no gang ties whatsoever."
Jones, the police spokesman, said the evidence does not mean the MGM attack or the other robberies and beatings will be classified by police as gang crimes.
"Are some of them in gangs? Absolutely," Jones said. "But were these organized acts by a specific gang? No, we're not saying that. That's still under investigation."
The MGM attack got national media attention earlier this month after police released security camera footage of the April 15 beating outside the MGM.
The video shows a young man sneaking up behind hotel landscaper Richard Markwell and sucker-punching him. Ten to 15 young men and two girls swarm in and begin pummeling Markwell, beating him with fists, whipping him with belts until he falls to the ground. Then some of the attackers kick and stomp Markwell while he is curled on the ground.
The 23-year-old worker suffered a broken jaw and broken collarbone. Another worker was punched during the melee, but was not badly injured.
Police have said some or all of the group that attacked Markwell about 2:25 a.m. are responsible for six other attacks over the same weekend.
Among those crimes are the beating and robbery of a woman at a North Las Vegas Wal-Mart about two hours before the MGM attack and the beating and robbery of a man outside a Travelodge motel a half-hour after the MGM attack.
About 24 hours later, some or all of the group participated in four attacks near Vegas Drive and Tenaya Way: robbing a Green Valley Grocery convenience store at 7951 Vegas Drive, beating a man near the store's pumps, robbing a couple in nearby Pioneer Park and shooting a man there, police said.
Review-Journal writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report.
