Skating rink shooting suspect in court

Evidence against a Floyd Mayweather Jr. associate who is a suspect in an August shooting probably will be heard by a grand jury, Las Vegas prosecutors said Wednesday.

Ocie Harris, 27, made his initial appearance in Clark County Justice Court on Wednesday morning, where a preliminary hearing was set for May 17. Harris is being charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Roy Nelson said prosecutors will seek a grand jury indictment against Harris, probably within several weeks.

If a grand jury indicts Harris on the charges, prosecutors will ask a district judge to set a new bail amount.

On Sunday, Harris, who had been extradited to Nevada from Chicago on Saturday, was released on a $7,500 bail set by Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo.

That amount seemed low to prosecutors, who indicated that bail for charges such as the ones Harris faces generally would be about $100,000. Abbatangelo did not consult prosecutors about bail before setting it. In Chicago, Harris had been held without bail.

Prosecutors also have said Harris is a flight risk, and they worry that he won't appear if the case goes to trial. Harris fled Nevada from a criminal investigation in August, when the shooting occurred, police said.

Harris' lawyer, Tom Pitaro, argued that his client's appearance at Wednesday's warrant hearing indicated he will appear at his future court dates.

"He is here today," Pitaro told the court.

Pitaro was Abbatangelo's attorney during the judge's domestic violence case in 2008 and 2009.

Abbatangelo was sentenced to spend two days in jail after he pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor battery domestic violence.

Senior Judge Joseph Bonaventure Sr., who is sitting for Abbatangelo this week while Abbatangelo is in San Diego leading a DUI Court workshop, would not consider the state's arguments that Harris' bail should be revoked or raised.

Bonaventure said the prosecution would have to file a motion and allow time for the defense to review the motion. Abbatangelo, who will be back in court on Monday, will be the judge to review their motion, he said.

Harris is the suspect in a shooting that occurred about 10 p.m. on Aug. 23 outside the Crystal Palace Skating Center on Boulder Highway, north of Flamingo Road.

Two men in a vehicle, Quincey Williams, 25, and Damein Bland, 36, reported being shot at while leaving the parking lot after a confrontation with Mayweather in which the boxer is said to have threatened Williams over a text message he had sent a few months earlier. No one was injured in the shooting.

Williams and Bland told police the shooter was a Mayweather employee named "O.C." who was the boxer's bodyguard.

Mayweather told police he was at the skating rink the night of the shooting but "didn't know an Ocie and was unaware of any shooting," a police report said.

But when police searched the boxer's Southern Highlands home, they recovered surveillance footage from his security gate that showed Harris at the residence on four separate occasions before the shooting, the report said.

Mayweather is not a suspect in the investigation, police said.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.