Man who pushed 82-year-old off RTC bus gets probation
A security officer was sentenced to probation Friday after pushing an 82-year-old man off of a bus in November, resulting in the man’s death, court documents show.
Anthony Louis Villanueva, 41, was sentenced to probation for no more than five years after pushing Charles Adams off a Regional Transportation Commission bus on Nov. 14, according to district court records. His sentence for prison time was suspended, but he would have served a minimum of 16 months and a maximum of six years in prison, court records show.
He pleaded guilty in February to a charge of voluntary manslaughter of a victim 60 or older.
Villanueva was a security officer for Allied Universal, a security guard company that contracts with the RTC, according to court documents.
Villanueva initially faced a murder charge after North Las Vegas police arrested him in January. The voluntary manslaughter charge means Villanueva pleaded guilty to killing Adams “without malice and without deliberation,” court documents show.
Adams died about a month after he was pushed from the bus, and the Clark County coroner’s office ruled his death a homicide due to complications of blunt force trauma of the head and neck.
North Las Vegas police had accused Villanueva of using unnecessary force and attempting to instigate a fight with Adams in an effort to get the man off the bus.
“I believe Villanueva was baiting (Adams) into initiating physical contact with him, rather than encouraging him to peacefully get off the bus,” an officer wrote in an arrest report after reviewing video and audio recorded inside the bus.
The argument began when Villanueva asked Adams to move his walker from an aisle. Adams complied, but he “used coarse language in expressing his contempt for Villanueva,” the report states.
The two traded insults until the bus stopped in the 2300 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, the report states. Villanueva got off the bus and told Adams to do the same, but in a manner that suggested he was looking for a fight, police wrote.
Adams threw his walker toward Villanueva but didn’t get off the bus. At some point, police had been called. Rather than waiting for police to arrive, Villanueva got back on the bus and continued to challenge Adams to a fight, the report states.
Adams swung his belt at Villanueva, the report says. Villanueva “responded by grabbing (Adams) with both hands, manhandling him and shoving him toward the bus door.”
Villanueva pushed him out the bus door and onto the concrete sidewalk, and then landed on top of Adams, the report said. Adams’ body went limp, and he suffered facial fractures.
During a Jan. 8 interview with police, Villanueva told police he had known Adams before, “and he knew him to be a problem.” He denied having any intention to fight or harm Adams, adding that the force he used to take down Adams was accidental.
“He said he was tired from working too many hours working with ‘the scum of the earth,’ and (Adams) got under his skin,” the report said. “He acknowledged that he made a mistake.”
Recent case
In April, another man died in a similar case in Las Vegas. Serge Fournier died about a month after a woman pushed him from a bus on March 21.
Cadesha Bishop, 25, faces one count each of murder, abuse of an older/vulnerable person resulting in death and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm of a victim 60 or older.
Police have said Bishop yelled profanities at other passengers and then pushed Fournier after he told her, “You need to be nicer to other people.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Villanueva’s sentence.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.