Man held in Minxx shooting

Las Vegas police arrested a 29-year-old man late Friday in connection with the Minxx nightclub shooting last year that ensnared NFL star Adam "Pacman" Jones.

The charges against Arvin Edwards of Renton, Wash., are the most serious to date in the case. He is being charged with three counts of attempted murder with a weapon and three counts of battery with substantial bodily harm, according to police.

Police have been searching for a gunman in the case, and prosecutors have handed down lesser charges to Jones and two others. All three have avoided prison sentences.

The Feb. 19, 2007, shooting, during NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas left nightclub bouncer Tom Urbanski paralyzed from the waist down.

Urbanski said Friday evening that he was "a little shocked" to hear of the arrest.

"Right now I'm excited for sure, but I don't want to get my hopes up until I find out this is the right guy," Urbanski said.

Edwards is being held at a jail in Yakima County, Wash., on a fourth-degree assault, domestic violence charge that's unrelated to the Minxx incident. The charge is the lightest domestic violence assault under Washington law. It's described as "any unwanted touching and/or spitting," according to a sergeant at the Renton City Jail.

He has been jailed since March 17 and is being held on $50,000 bail, according to the sergeant. The domestic violence case has yet to go to trial.

Las Vegas police declined to comment on the case Friday and refused to release a booking photograph of Edwards. A Police Department press release stated, "a combined effort of multiple agencies led METRO Detectives to the identification of Edwards as the suspect in the Minxx shooting, and his subsequent arrest."

Edwards awaits extradition to Las Vegas.

Authorities said Jones started a fight early in the morning inside the strip club at 4636 Wynn Road, near Arville Street and Tropicana Avenue, after he threw hundreds of dollars onto the stage for a visual effect known as "making it rain." Jones, who was with about six other people, "became irate" and got into a fight with bouncers in the club after strippers started taking the money, police said.

The shooting occurred outside the club after Jones and his entourage had been kicked out. Urbanski along with another club employee and a patron of the club were shot.

Police said early in the investigation that they believed the shooter was a Jones associate.

The suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback brokered a plea deal with prosecutors in December. He was given probation for pleading no contest to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct and agreeing to testify against a shooter in the incident.

A co-defendent in the case, Sadia Morrison, 25, of New York, was sentenced to three years of probation in January after pleading no contest to battery.

A third defendant, Robert "Big Rob" Reid, 37, of California, also avoided jail time by pleading no contest to one count of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Jones just over a year ago, and recent media reports have Jones seeking reinstatement to the league. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Cowboys have sought to acquire Jones.

Urbanski, a real estate agent moonlighting at the club to pay for his wife to go to law school, underwent numerous surgeries following the shooting. He has since gone through physical therapy, and he said Friday his mental health is good.

"I feel good, I feel a lot better," he said Friday. "I'm forever going to be paralyzed from below my bellybutton. But I'm getting my upper-body strength up. I'm functioning."

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.