Sword-wielding man killed at Dairy Queen identified
In the last moments of his life early Sunday afternoon, 36-year-old Bongkuk Pak was caught on surveillance video wearing black gloves and a cloth over his face as he walked into a Dairy Queen carrying a samurai-style sword in his right hand.
What the former UNLV football player and county worker did next got him killed.
Pak went up to the store’s clerk and pulled the sheath off the 41-inch weapon, according to an arrest report released Monday.
"Pak went directly to the cash register and violently swung the sword into the cash register several times," the report said. Investigators observed the register had "slash marks … consistent with strikes from a sword."
Watching on surveillance cameras from the back of the ice cream shop, Christian Wehbe Jr., 23, saw Pak approach his 20-year-old brother, Michael Wehbe, who was working the cash register
Christian came to his brother’s defense. He emerged from the back of the store carrying a 9 mm handgun and shot Pak twice.
The Wehbe brothers told investigators they both felt their lives were in danger. Their father, Christian Wehbe Sr., owns the store at 2595 S. Maryland Parkway, near Sahara Avenue. The gun used in the shooting was registered to Christian Wehbe Sr., according to police.
When Las Vegas police arrived at the Dairy Queen about 12:15 p.m., Pak was lying wounded on the ground outside. Next to him was the sword, the report said. He died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
Although the Wehbes appear to have a self-defense case, police said, the district attorney’s office will decide whether to press charges.
Police said Pak had an accomplice in the robbery attempt.
Carol Matteo, 47, was booked Sunday on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary.
According to her arrest report, Matteo was confronted by police as they arrived on the scene. She was checking on Pak’s well-being after he was shot, the report said.
Matteo told police that Pak was her boyfriend. She said she had dropped him off at a nearby McDonald’s. She said she didn’t know that Pak intended to rob the Dairy Queen and denied knowing he carried a sword.
But an investigation showed otherwise, the report said.
Michael Wehbe told police that Matteo also had entered the store. And she was caught on camera shortly before the shooting looking at ice cream cakes.
A surveillance camera also caught Matteo driving a silver sedan, which Pak got out of before walking into the Dairy Queen. The car was later deemed a Toyota Camry.
After viewing the videos, police detained Matteo, and she spoke with detectives.
She told them that Pak wanted to "jack a person up at the club," referring to robbing someone at a gym at Karen Avenue and Maryland Parkway.
Matteo said she told Pak that would be dumb because his family frequents the business. The two then went to the strip mall where the Dairy Queen was located and cased a Subway sandwich shop and a pizzeria before choosing the Dairy Queen as their target.
Before his death, Pak appeared to have a promising future.
In high school, he was a star on the football field and in the classroom.
Pak was a quarterback on Las Vegas High School’s football team and, in 1993, set the state record for most touchdown passes in a game with nine in a 63-62, five-overtime loss to Valley High School. The record stood until 2008.
Pak also played quarterback at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif., for two seasons before signing with Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Pak then transferred to University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he walked on to the football team in 1997 and was a wide receiver on the Rebels’ 1998 squad. He also served as a scout team quarterback for the Rebels.
His UNLV biography said Pak was a 1994 honors graduate of Las Vegas High School and was involved in student government.
A spokeswoman for the College of Southern Nevada said Pak was a part- time social sciences instructor who last worked at the school in the fall of 2010.
A Clark County spokesman said Pak held full- and part-time jobs beginning in 2001. The full-time jobs included election program supervisor, from February 2008 until January 2010; administrator, from January 2006 until February 2008; and office assistant from July 2001 until January 2006.
But Pak was no stranger to Las Vegas police. He was arrested several times beginning in the summer of 2010.
The more serious arrests came from accusations that included possession of methamphetamine, possession of drugs with intent to sell, domestic violence and violation of a restraining order, police spokesman Marcus Martin said.
Review-Journal reporters Mike Blasky, Brian Haynes and Bartt Davis contributed to this report. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
