One arrested after stolen nachos lead to shooting on the Strip
A man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting that morning that stemmed from a confrontation about stolen nachos on the Strip.
The shooting happened at about 1:30 a.m. at the AMPM store just south of Tropicana Avenue at 3873 Las Vegas Blvd. South, a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report read. No one was hurt during the shooting, and Anthony Gioiosa, 24, was arrested shortly after.
Police said Gioiosa may have been one of two men who walked into the AMPM, made a tray of nachos and walked out of the store without paying.
When the store’s clerk at the front register asked if the pair planned to pay for the nachos, “they told him that they are gangsters and they don’t pay,” the report said.
The two continued toward their parked, black Dodge Avenger and the clerk followed, confronting them again about the nachos. After a brief scuffle, one of the men with nachos pulled a gun from the Dodge, and the clerk ran back inside as the armed man followed.
Both the clerk and a second employee bolted toward the back of the store and hid. The armed man saw only the second employee’s movement and fired in his direction, missing him.
The man who fired climbed into the Dodge and sped away. Police found Gioiosa, who matched the armed man’s description, climbing into a similar vehicle at another AMPM soon after, the report said. The clerk also identified Gioiosa as the shooter later that morning.
After a brief pursuit, Gioiosa was caught and booked for charges including burglary with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon. At the time of his arrest, he was also arrested for a felony possession of controlled substances warrant and a misdemeanor traffic warrant.
He is expected in court this week and again on March 29 to address the charges. It was unclear whether police were searching for the second man who took nachos.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby
