Suspect arrested in attack on man at Las Vegas apartments

A 63-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries after a former apartment complex tenant beat him with rocks last week in downtown Las Vegas, police documents show.

A witness watched the former tenant, identified in an arrest report as Anthony Lamar Taylor, 50, attack the man about 11:10 p.m. March 19 near Koala Apartments, 520 S. Casino Center Blvd., according to an arrest report.

Prosecutors charged Taylor on Thursday with counts of battery with a weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and burglary.

The victim was inside his third-floor apartment when he heard glass breaking, he told police. He went to investigate the sound and discovered a window to the complex manager’s office was broken. He picked up a metal pipe near the window, spotted an intruder inside, confronted him and chased him down the hallway and out of the building.

A witness reported seeing the intruder throw “a rock the size of a baseball” at the man’s head. He threw three more rocks, battered the man with a tube sock he believed contained rocks and hit him with the pole, according to the arrest report.

The witness helped the injured man to his feet and walked him to the front of the building, where the witness called police.

The arrest report said the man was hospitalized at Valley Hospital Medical Center with life-threatening head injuries.

In an interview with police, Taylor provided inconsistent accounts of events and denied being inside the office.

“During the initial encounter, Anthony made a spontaneous utterance where he said he was defending himself,” the arrest report said.

Taylor told police he punched the man and hit him after the man chased him with a metal pole “in an unprovoked altercation.”

Officers jailed Taylor in Clark County Detention Center, but he was placed on house arrest under the condition he stayed away from the victim, court records show.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.