Neighbor arrested in attack on Filipino-American in his garage

Amadeo Quindara and his wife, Leonida, said they had never experienced anti-Asian hate after moving to Las Vegas from New York in 2008. That changed for the 75-year-old couple on May 30, when Leonida Quindara found her husband lying in a pool of his own blood in their garage after he was attacked by their neighbor, the couple said.

Amadeo Quindara said the couple’s first negative interaction with 44-year-old Christian Lentz was when they were speaking in Tagalog with their fellow Filipino neighbors. He said Lentz told the neighbors to speak English, calling them stereotypical Japanese names.

The next day, according to Amadeo Quindara, Lentz threatened him, saying he would “put him on a ventilator” before walking away. He alleges that Lentz then came back about 30 minutes later and attacked him, punching him in the face multiple times and slamming him on the ground, opening a gash in the back of his head.

“Before I could even stand up from the chair that I was sitting in, I couldn’t count how many times he was hitting me,” Amadeo Quindara told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “until he lifted me up and slammed me on the ground. This was inside my garage.”

After slamming Amadeo on the ground, Lentz walked out, yelling “Die” multiple times, according to Amadeo Quindara and a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report for Lentz.

Ray Quindara, 50, the couple’s son, said Metro officers who responded to the scene told him that they could not arrest Lentz, who was in his home after the attack. Lentz’s arrest report said he couldn’t be arrested on that day because he locked himself inside his house.

Police arrested Lentz the next day outside his home, according to Ray Quindara and Lentz’s arrest report.

On Sunday, Lentz told the Review-Journal he is “not a hate crime person” and that he cannot pick a person up.

He told police that he did not remember the alleged encounter with Amadeo Quindara, according to his arrest report, and he told the Review-Journal that his memory from the end of May to Sunday is “fuzzy.”

The Clark County district attorney’s office announced on June 16 that Lentz is facing charges of elder abuse and residential burglary perpetrated as hate crimes.

Lentz was released from custody on bail with conditions to stay out of trouble and stay away from the Quindaras’ home, according to court records.

‘I’m scared for my life’

The gash on the back of Amadeo Quindara’s head has healed since the attack, but he was diagnosed with a brain hematoma, his son Henry Quindara said Wednesday. Alongside his physical injuries, Amadeo Quindara and his family still bear mental wounds from the incident.

“I’m scared for my life, my family’s lives,” Leonida Quindara said. “Every time they walk the dogs, I don’t join them. I keep checking on where they are and how many minutes they walk.”

The couple used to take daily walks with their dogs, but now they will not go on walks without their son with them.

“It’s our neighborhood, we live there. We should be able to walk wherever we want without fear,” Ray Quindara said.

Community support

After the attack, the family received support from within the neighborhood, the local Asian American and Pacific Islanders community, and the wider Las Vegas community.

News of the attack went viral on social media, and some people even visited the Quindara home to offer their support.

“I’m surprised that most of the conversation is about helping us, and I’m very thankful,” Leonida Quindara said.

Thanks to community support, the family connected with Minddie Lloyd, co-founder and president of Bamboo Bridges, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for and helping the AAPI community.

“It’s clear to me that this community comes together,” Ray Quindara said. “When something bad happens, people step up and do the right things.”

Lloyd said anti-Asian hate crimes are happening more often in the U.S., and they often go unreported. She said people should always make sure to report when they see or are victims of hate.

She also commended the Clark County district attorney’s office for its handling of the case.

“Thank you DA Wolfson for showing us that justice is possible for those being targeted by hate and violence in our community,” Lloyd said in a statement. “I look forward to swift justice in this case. We stand with the victim and his family.”

Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Instagram @writermark2.