Suspect arrested in central Las Vegas sexual assault

About 3:50 p.m. Oct. 31, two people called police to report that a naked woman with her hands tied behind her back with gray cords and “Christmas ribbon,” was near the intersection of Main Street and Bonanza Road, the report said. The woman, who also had a plastic bag around her neck, asked one of the callers for help after she ran from a nearby warehouse and attempted to climb under a fence.

The woman told officers that a man she didn’t know broke into a warehouse she was staying in at 601 N. Main St. The man, who had three knives on him, grabbed her and led her toward the back of the building.

The man, later identified by police as 54-year-old Calvin Lucas, tied her hands behind her back with “Christmas ribbon” and an electrical cord, put a plastic bag over her face, and took $30 from her, according to Lucas’ arrest report.

The woman said the man raped her and threatened to stab her while she was tied up, the report said. He then tied her feet together and left the warehouse.

The woman was able to wiggle her feet free and ran from the warehouse to find help, the report said.

DNA found at the scene led police to Lucas, who investigators determined was a homeless man living in the area where the woman was attacked. Lucas “has an extensive criminal history,” including a 2002 California charge of “oral copulation with force,” the report said.

He was also the suspect in an August 2017 sexual assault in Las Vegas, the report said.

The victim in that case said Lucas told her he was a club promoter and invited her to his apartment. While there, Lucas “gave her several drinks and the victim passed out,” and when she woke up he was assaulting her, the report said.

The case was submitted to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in 2017, but it was denied, the report said. A DNA test identified Lucas as the suspect in 2019, but the case was not resubmitted to the district attorney’s office until Oct. 19, the report said.

It was unclear from the arrest report why the district attorney’s office denied the case in 2017.

Officers arrested Lucas on Nov. 7, and he was found with “a baggie of crystal substance, three unidentified pills and numerous driver’s licenses and credit cards in different names,” the report said. He also had a knife described by the victim in the Oct. 31 attack.

Lucas told police he went to the warehouse to “steal and look at the jewelry case,” when he found the woman, but he denied raping her.

Since 2014, Lucas has faced five different counts of failing to register as a sex offender, which is a felony, court records show. The most recent was in June, but in each case, the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute.

During that same time period, he faced two separate charges of failing to comply with the felon registry, which is a misdemeanor, court records show. He was prosecuted in those cases, and he pleaded no contest.

Lucas now faces felony charges of kidnapping with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon and three counts of sexual assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.

He remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Friday with a $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.