Police: California teens came to Las Vegas to target Asian victims in violent home invasions
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A group of teenagers from California is accused of traveling to the Las Vegas area and targeting Asian victims in a series of violent home invasions, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Johnathan Crouch, 18; Terrell Means-Elliott, 17; and Lorenzo Taylor, 18, face charges of robbery, burglary and kidnapping, among others, records showed.
Las Vegas Metro police arrested Crouch and Means-Elliott in California earlier this month, documents said. Taylor was in custody in California, documents said.
On Sept. 26, 2023, officers responded to a burglary in process. The address for the home was redacted in court documents. The responding officer “observed someone looking at him from [a] second-story window… before seeing multiple people jump from [a] backyard wall,” documents said.
The officer noted seeing three people wearing hoodies running from the home. Investigators later located an AR-15-style firearm in the backyard, which was stolen out of California.
The victim told police she had just moved into the house the day before, documents said. She said she woke up to three people with guns in her bedroom demanding money. One of the suspects grabbed her while the other others “ransacked her bedroom,” police said.
The suspects then attempted to tie the woman and her roommate back-to-back before leaving with $24. The roommate, a man, later told police everyone in the home spoke Chinese and it was odd to wake up to the sound of English, documents said.
The next day, an officer responded to a call where a person found a handgun. The gun was reported stolen out of California.
As part of their investigation, officers determined the same group of men was likely targeting Asian family homes and may be connected to six prior burglaries, home invasions, or robberies, documents said. In one case, police said they found a “handwritten list” with addresses and phone numbers that they suspected were targets.
Police also suspected a black sedan may be involved as it was recorded on surveillance video at several crime scenes.
On Sept. 28, a person heard “window break and voices coming from downstairs” of their home, police said. The homeowner activated their home security system and the group left.
That same night, a person called police saying they heard banging on a window. One of the suspects, holding a knife, pushed up a door and threatened the man inside.
Police later tracked the black sedan to Taylor’s family. Shortly after the incidents on Sept. 28, police tracked the sedan to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, police said.
In late October, police arrested Taylor in Fontana, California, they said. During a search of his home, police found Means-Elliott. It was unclear what ties the group has to Las Vegas, other than Means-Elliott’s registration within the Clark County School District.
Taylor later told police the group left California for Las Vegas to rob a home. However, police said he did not mention a motive nor the alleged targeting of Asian individuals.
Crouch first appeared in court on Jan. 13, where Judge Daniel Westmeyer set bail at $100,000. He remained in custody as of Monday and was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 30.
Means-Elliott first appeared in court on Jan. 13, where Judge Daniel Westmeyer set bail at $100,000. He remained in custody as of Monday and was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 1.
In an unrelated case, five people from California face murder charges after they allegedly bound an Asian couple in their Las Vegas mansion, pistol-whipping an elderly man and forcing his wife’s head underwater in a bathtub, leading to one of their deaths.
Last year, Metro policed arrested Denzale Lee, 28; Raven Queen, 29; and Antonio Washington, 26, on charges relating to the series of burglaries, which officers said amounted to as many as 11. Henderson police had arrested Queen and another man, Derrick Roberts, 26, in January for a home invasion and shooting there, they said. A fifth person, Howard Cavitt, 28; and a sixth person, Lamonte Butler, 25, were also indicted in the conspiracy.
On Jan. 12, 2023, four armed men broke into the home in the Queensridge neighborhood, and duct-taped Hong Shu Liu, then-77 years old, and his wife, beating them and forcing them around the home to open safes, documents alleged. Prosecutors allege Queen “remained outside to act as a lookout” during the robbery, documents said.
Liu was left hospitalized with a brain injury, documents said. Prosecutors said he died from his injuries in September 2023, leading a grand jury to indict the group on the murder charge.
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