Metro releases sketch of man wanted in woman’s beating

By Mary Manning

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009 | 2:55 p.m.

Metro Police have released a composite sketch of a man who they say robbed and severely beat a woman in her home earlier this week.

The assault occurred about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the woman's home in the northwest Las Vegas Valley, police said. She was released from the hospital Thursday.

A man knocked at the woman's door in the area of Smoke Ranch Road and Buffalo Avenue, saying he had lost his dog. The woman didn't open the front door at that time, but moments later the man returned and she took the chain off the door, said Lt. Cliff Nichols of Metro's robbery section.

The woman, who is in her mid 60s, was beaten in the face and taken to University Medical Center. The man might have known that the woman was alone after her husband died about a week earlier, police said.

The man took the woman's keys and her vehicle, described as a silver 2008 Infiniti G35 with Nevada license plate 807KPC, police said.

The man is described as Hispanic and in his late 20s with a muscular build and shaved head. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt.

Police said the man is considered armed and dangerous. The man could face enhanced charges because he attacked and robbed a senior citizen, Nichols said.

Robbery detectives are asking for the public's help finding the man and the stolen vehicle. Anyone with information is being asked to call Metro's robbery section at (702) 828-3591, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.