Minivan driver arrested at Las Vegas Strip resort, accused of striking woman in parking lot
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – An Arizona man faces attempted murder charges after police allege he struck a woman with his vehicle twice in a Las Vegas fast-food parking lot, according to a police report obtained by 8 News Now.
Richard O’Neal, 43, was identified as the driver in the incident by Las Vegas Metro police. O’Neal was located and arrested at a Las Vegas Strip resort on May 11. He faces several felony charges which include battery with the use of a deadly weapon, attempted murder, and duty to stop at the scene of an accident, police said.
The incident happened on April 20, after Las Vegas Metro police received a report that a woman had been struck in a parking lot in the 3300 block of Tropicana Avenue near Pecos Road.
The person reporting the incident to police stated that a grey older Honda Odyssey hit the woman after she had exited the vehicle, according to the police report. Witnesses also told police the vehicle had a damaged front bumper and that after the woman was initially hit the vehicle backed up striking her again. The woman was then taken to a nearby hospital where she was listed as severely critical with life-threatening injuries.
According to the police report, the woman had previously been arrested for soliciting prostitution in March. As a result, Las Vegas Metro Vice Detectives were notified and responded to the hospital for a follow-up interview with the woman. The woman told detectives she was having trouble remembering what happened but stated a male offered her a ride and when she got into his vehicle he parked in a fast-food parking lot, according to the police report.
The woman then told detectives that the man started to touch her, she told him no and then got out of the vehicle, the report stated. The woman then told detectives that is when the man hit her with his vehicle, according to the report.
During the investigation police located surveillance video from a nearby business in the 3655 West Tropicana Avenue, which apparently showed the van pull into the parking lot and park, then back into a spot. In the video, the woman was then seen exiting the van and standing in appoximately five-feet off to the front right of the van. The surveillance video then apparently showed the van accelerateing while turning to the right striking the woman, according the police report.
Officers then stated that in the video, the van is seen rising in the air as it drives over the woman, according to the police report. The van is then seen not moving for a few seconds and then seen going in reverse and driving over the woman once more, police stated in the report. The vehicle is then seen exiting the parking lot, the police report stated.
Police also located video from an RTC bus that allegedly showed the woman entering the man’s van in the parking lot, according to the police report.
On May 11, detectives located O’Neal at a Las Vegas Strip resort where he was detained, then arrested and taken to the Clark County Detention Center.
O’Neal is scheduled to make a court appearance on Tuesday, May 14.
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