Pastor again riles residents

A pastor and prolific petty criminal who has been evicted from neighborhoods in at least two states for operating illegal halfway houses is back in town and back in business.

Darryl Willhite, pastor of Krystal Light Ministries, has in recent months moved his operation into a four-bedroom home in an otherwise quiet cul-de-sac near Horse Drive and Bradley Road at the northern edge of Las Vegas.

There the 44-year-old pastor has done precisely what got him run out of Henderson four years ago. He has opened a combination homeless shelter, drug rehab program and ministry for up to 20 people now living in the home.

Neighbors on Ghost Rider Court, annoyed by Willhite's large late-night Bible-study classes and throngs of people coming and going, have complained to city code enforcement, which has opened an investigation into Willhite's use of the property.

It's a pattern Willhite -- who has a lengthy rap sheet including arrests for forgery, burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia -- has repeated here and in Arizona in recent years.

"We gave him the boot before, and we are just going to have to give him the boot again," said Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross, who has been working with Ghost Rider Court neighbors.

In 2005, Willhite was evicted from a rental home on Chapman Drive, near the intersection of Maryland Parkway and Oakey Boulevard, for operating an illegal halfway house.

Then, in early 2006, Willhite ran into trouble at Henderson's Sun City Anthem senior community after moving 16 people into a two-bedroom house there. Neighbors spotted people sleeping on mattresses in the backyard.

The pastor and his friends solicited donations from nearby businesses for his ministry. He claimed those donations were tax-deductible despite the ministry not being registered as a nonprofit group, police said. A neighborhood Starbucks donated nearly $1,700 in pastries to the group.

A Henderson SWAT team raided the home. Willhite and two of his associates were arrested on forgery and fraud charges.

After an article about the incident appeared in the Review-Journal, Willhite seemingly disappeared for a while. He resurfaced in late 2007 in Tucson, Ariz., where he set up three halfway houses in rented homes, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

Willhite collected donations of $400 a month from residents, some of whom had to sleep on the floor, and asked those who could not afford the donation to contribute portions of their food stamps, the newspaper said.

Soon Willhite was collecting zoning citations and complaints from neighbors.

Three weeks after the Daily Star ran a story on Willhite, he disappeared again. A zoning hearing for violations at two of the houses was canceled after he cleared out. The owner of the homes told the newspaper Willhite had paid only a small portion of his rent.

Willhite has been known to slightly alter his date of birth and the name of his ministry from place to place. Las Vegas police said that although Willhite was born in 1966, he sometimes uses 1960.

Since he got back to town, Willhite has been arrested at least twice on bench warrants for missing court dates several years ago.

He has been recruiting tenants for his Ghost Rider Court home from the downtown homeless corridor, said a family member of one of those tenants. The family member asked not to be identified to protect the tenant.

Willhite collects food stamps from some of the tenants, the family member said.

Several neighbors declined to comment. One neighbor said they learned about Willhite's past and are a little scared of him.

The owner of the home lives in New Jersey, according to Clark County records, and could not be reached for comment.

Also, the pastor began moving people into a rented four-plex on Koval Lane near Tropicana Avenue, the family member said.

A Clark County official said the county has yet to receive a complaint about Willhite's use of the Koval building. Attempts to contact the owner on Friday were unsuccessful.

The city has delivered to the Ghost Rider Court home a "notice to correct" to cease the classes and shelter activities because they are not allowed in a single-family residential neighborhood, a city spokesperson said. The city has yet to issue an official citation.

Information about both locations was posted on a recently updated website, krystal
lightministries.org. The ministry is "reaching our hand out to people in need of a lift up," according to the website, which also includes a link through which people can donate money to the ministry.

A young woman who answered the door at the Ghost Rider Court home Thursday afternoon said that Willhite wasn't there and that she couldn't comment.

Several people's voices could be heard coming from the home, and two toddlers were standing behind the woman. A few minutes later, the pastor himself returned a call from the Review-Journal.

"All I'm doing is trying to help people," Willhite said. "I'm a humble man. I'm not looking for any publicity."

The pastor said he was working out the zoning issues at Ghost Rider Court and planned to stay in the Las Vegas Valley.

When asked about his experiences at Sun City Anthem, Willhite said, "That was five years ago."

And about those more recent problems, in Tucson?

"It really isn't anybody's business," he said.

Willhite refused to grant an interview about his ministry.

"I'm not a stupid man," he said. "I'm not interested in being interviewed by you or anybody."

Then, shortly before hanging up, Willhite said, "God bless you."

Review-Journal writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com
or 702-383-0285.