Bar fight between brothers leads to attempted murder charge

A 40-year-old man was charged with attempted murder after authorities accused him of stabbing his brother with the broken handle of a glass beer mug during a fight last week at a northwest Las Vegas bar.

At about 8:10 p.m. on Aug. 25, Metropolitan Police Department officers received a report of a stabbing at the Mangos Beach Bar, at 6650 Vegas Drive, according to an arrest report.

When police arrived, they found a man lying inside the bar “surrounded by blood,” with two people pressing white towels to his neck to stop the bleeding.

The man told police that he was drinking with his brother and another relative when the other two men got into a fight. His brother, identified as Philip Johnson, attempted to hit his relative with a glass beer mug, but Johnson’s brother stepped between the two and was hit instead, according to Johnson’s arrest report.

Surveillance footage showed Johnson’s brother attempting to get the beer mug out of his hand. Johnson then swung the mug, hitting his brother on the side of his face and breaking the glass, the report said.

Johnson’s brother fell to the ground, and Johnson then attempted to stab his brother’s neck with the broken mug handle about seven times, according to the report.

“Philip then is pressing his right hand onto (his brother’s) neck in a grinding motion as if to drive the broken glass into (his brother’s) neck,” the report said.

Johnson also attempted to stab his brother in the rib cage, according to the report. Johnson stopped attacking his brother when the bartender noticed the fight, and he left the scene, the report said.

His brother suffered multiple cuts on his face and head, including a 3-inch cut to his neck. The man told police the fight between Johnson and their other relative began after Johnson lost money at a poker machine, the report said.

Police arrested Johnson after he walked into MountainView Hospital with cuts to his hand. He later told police that he punched his brother and hit him with the beer mug “in an attempt to protect himself,” but he denied stabbing him with the broken glass, the report said.

Johnson was charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon, court records show. He remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Friday with a $10,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 6.

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