Marine veteran arrested after allegedly attacking pastor, firing into his home

A Marine veteran has been arrested by Las Vegas police for attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon after he tried to run over a pastor with his Toyota sedan.

The suspect, Walter H. Laak, punched Andres Charry-Arana on Sept. 14 in an apartment complex parking lot near Harmon Avenue and Spencer Street as the pastor of a Christian church, Misionero de Guatemala, sat in his car talking on a cellphone.

After the unprovoked attack, “Laak got into his vehicle and drove toward Andres, striking him” on his right leg and causing him to fall, the report reads, adding that Laak then put the Toyota in reverse and tried to run over him. He later fired several shots into Charry-Arana’s residence, it said.

Police responded and later arrested Laak for battery with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure. Charry-Arana was taken to Sunrise Hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.

A neighbor of Laak’s near Haualapai Way and Grand Teton Drive told the Review-Journal that the veteran had been terrorizing residents for three weeks by throwing beer bottles at their houses and vehicles.

The arrest report says that Laak “is a threat to law enforcement and has PTSD from the Marine Corps.”

The report adds that Laak told police that he has been harassed by the FBI and he believes he’s been watched “by several federal agents because he discovered several murders” overseas.