Las Vegas man ruled fit for trial in kidnapping, attempted murder case
A judge on Friday found a 22-year-old Las Vegas man competent to stand trial after he was charged with kidnapping a woman and ramming his car into a motorcycle officer in May.
William Clarence Vinson was arrested May 8 after he backed a Mercedes into a Metropolitan Police Department motorcycle officer who pulled the man over early that morning at Jackson Avenue and C Street, near West Owens Avenue in the central valley, according to Vinson’s arrest report. After hitting the officer, the driver sped away with a woman in the car, the report said. She later told police Vinson kidnapped her and exposed himself to her, the report said.
A District Court judge on Friday found him competent to stand trial, court records show.
The officer Vinson is accused of hitting was released from University Medical Center that day with scrapes on his right wrist, both knees, right elbow and buttocks, the report said.
After the Mercedes’ driver sped off, North Las Vegas police found the car at Jerry’s Nugget casino, 1821 Las Vegas Blvd. North, the report said.
Las Vegas police found the woman, and she told detectives she recently met Vinson at a motel. Late on May 7 or early May 8, the two “agreed to go somewhere together,” and Vinson said he would drive the woman to her car.
He then “kept her in the vehicle and drove around for hours,” the report said.
“Vinson told (the woman) she was going to be his wife and have his children,” and he exposed himself to her and tried to touch her sexually, the report said.
The woman told investigators that at one point she attempted to hail a car for help, and that Vinson put her in a headlock and threatened her, the report said.
After the crash, the woman said Vinson drove to the casino, and the two got out of the car. She then flagged down a security officer and police officer for help.
Police found Vinson at a home in the central valley that afternoon, where he was arrested.
He came out of the home “visibly crying and holding (a child) in front of him like a shield and stating, ‘Don’t shoot me,’ ” the report said.
Before the case was transferred to District Court to determine if he were competent,
Vinson was charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping and battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault, court records show. He remained in the county jail Saturday without bail, jail records showed.
^
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
