Murder charge filed against suspect in Tuesday robbery; second suspect still at-large

By Jackie Valley

Published Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | 3:59 p.m.

Updated Thursday, April 19, 2012 | 10:45 a.m.

A man is in custody and another is sought in connection with the fatal shooting of a robbery victim Tuesday morning in the eastern valley, Metro Police said.

An arrest report released Wednesday identified the victim as Manuel Torres-Garcia, who died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was taken a short time after the incident.

Metro Police traced a license plate number to the suspect’s car, leading to the arrest of 30-year-old Carlos Humberto Garcia in connection with the victim’s death, the report states.

Garcia has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon and one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

A search is under way for the second suspect, identified by police as 22-year-old Carlos Vargas, who authorities said is about 5-feet-9-inches tall and about 195 pounds.

Detectives located the suspect vehicle abandoned on the third floor of the Boulder Station parking garage, stripped of its license plate, according to the arrest report. Inside the trunk, investigators found a black duffel bag containing a pistol wrapped in a bandana; a pistol-gripped pump-action shotgun; ammunition for a 12-gauge shotgun; and wallets belonging to the two robbery victims.

In the arrest report, police gave the following version of events leading to Garcia’s arrest:

About 7 a.m. Tuesday, Torres-Garcia was talking to a man outside in the 3300 block of Vista Del Monte, a street in a mobile-home community near Desert Inn Road and Nellis Boulevard.

As the two spoke, a dark blue 1998 Toyota sedan with three people inside drove by and made a U-turn, stopping near Torres-Garcia’s truck.

Garcia and another man, identified in the report as Vargas, got out of the car and approached Torres-Garcia and the man.

Vargas, wearing a bandana over his face, was armed with a pistol, while Garcia carried a long gun. The pair pointed the guns at Torres-Garcia and the man before grabbing their wallets.

Garcia continued pointing the gun at Torres-Garcia, then suddenly fired, striking him in the neck.

The suspects ran back to the car, and Garcia drove south out of the area. Meanwhile, the man jotted down the license plate number, as another witness reported the shooting to police. The man told police that the driver, later identified as Garcia, had a shaved head and unshaven face.

From a photo lineup, the man identified Garcia, who was a registered owner of the suspect vehicle, as the person who shot Torres-Garcia.

Several hours later, police found Garcia getting off a bus near Eugene Avenue and Decatur Boulevard in the northwest valley. Officers arrested him and transported him to police headquarters, where he denied involvement in the crime.

Garcia, the report said, told officers he had a fight with his wife, Jennifer Garcia, and left their house late Tuesday night, ultimately sleeping in a park. He also denied shaving his head or face that day to disguise himself.

“Garcia then became agitated and began striking himself in the face,” detectives wrote in the report. Garcia told police he had hurt people before and that his wife, identified as the third person in the car, was “definitely” not involved, according to the report.

Detectives, who noticed Garcia had fresh razor marks on his head and face, transported him to the Clark County Detention Center after he began acting “out of control,” the report states.

Garcia remains in the detention center without bail, according to jail records.

Anyone with information about Vargas’ location is asked to contact Metro’s homicide section at 702-828-3521 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or visit www.crimestoppersofnv.com.

CORRECTION: This version corrects that the person Torres-Garcia was with during the robbery was a man. | (April 19, 2012)