NY man faces murder charge in Las Vegas beating death
A New York man faces a murder charge after the August death of a man police said was beaten near the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard North and Owens Avenue.
Elias Montalvo, 37, on Tuesday was charged in the Aug. 23 death of 58-year-old Alvin Streeter, whose cause of death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County coroner’s office.
Streeter died from pneumonia, breathing problems and blunt head trauma due to assault, the coroner said.
Metro was called Aug. 12 to the 300 block of Formaster Lane and found Streeter being loaded into an ambulance, according to a police report. He was unconscious, intubated and had suffered “extreme facial swelling.”
Officers found Elias Montalvo lying on the ground about 40 yards from the ambulance, police said. His hands, clothes and left shoe were bloodied.
Police said that most of the blood on Montalvo appeared to be Streeter’s.
It wasn’t clear how the fight started, but witnesses told police that they saw Montalvo punch Streeter continuously in the face. The beating stopped momentarily, and Montalvo walked away.
But he turned right back around, police said, and started kicking Streeter in the chest. A woman who lived nearby yelled, “STOP, that’s enough!”
Montalvo quit again, witnesses told police, but not before returning once more to stomp Streeter’s head several times.
At that point, several residents of a nearby apartment complex came and pulled Montalvo off Streeter, police said. He started walking away but fell to his knees, then lay on the ground, witnesses told police.
Montalvo also was loaded into an ambulance, police said, and he appeared to fall asleep. But then he came to and started screaming at ambulance staff.
He was taken to University Medical Center, where staff determined Montalvo didn’t need their care, and police arrested him. He refused to walk, so four officers loaded him into a patrol car, according to a police report.
He was booked on charges of attempted murder and battery with substantial bodily harm at the Clark County Detention Center, police said.
The charges were upgraded to murder Tuesday, according to the Clark County district attorney’s office. Montalvo is scheduled to appear in court March 9.
Streeter was also taken to UMC, where he died 11 days later.
Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites
