Nevada landlord charged with hate crime in tenant’s beating

A landlord in Indian Springs is charged with a hate crime after police said he beat a tenant with a stick during an argument last month.

Ryan Perry, 45, is charged with battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm with a hate crime enhancement, Las Vegas Justice Court records show. According to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department, he beat his tenant with a stick eight times while the men stood in their driveways Aug. 5.

Police said Perry owns the house he lives in and the house next door, where the tenant and his family live. Indian Springs is about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Police records indicate officers have been called to fights between the two men four times in the past two months. Perry told police he wants to evict them, but Nevada’s moratorium on evictions has prevented him, according to the report.

The tenant told police Perry had shut off the electricity and that when the two saw each other in their neighboring driveways they began verbally challenging each other. The tenant said Perry told him “you’re going to jail and I’m having your kids taken away,” the report said.

Police spoke to multiple witnesses and reviewed video evidence that showed that Perry’s wife swung a large metal pole at the tenant and missed twice before Perry hit him eight times with a 2½-foot stick, the report said.

Perry told police the fighting began when the tenant yelled at him and threw rocks, though none of them struck him.

Perry was released on bail with the conditions he have no contact with the tenant and stay out of trouble. He is expected in court again Oct. 1.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.