courtesy of metro police
Sean Cordeiro
Friday, Feb. 28, 2014 | 3:40 p.m.
A man arrested for holding a woman and her three children hostage Thursday morning in a Las Vegas home blamed the incident on his methamphetamine addiction, according to Metro Police.
The situation began about 5 a.m. in the 7800 block of Millhopper Avenue, near Lake Mead Boulevard and Buffalo Drive. Police helped the 43-year-old woman and her three children escape through a master bedroom window.
SWAT officers then entered the home and found the suspect, 33-year-old Sean Cordeiro, barricaded in the laundry room, according to the arrest report released today.
Cordeiro was arrested on counts of first-degree kidnapping, home invasion, burglary, robbery and attempted sexual assault. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where he remains without bail.
The arrest report outlines the following alleged version of events:
Shortly after the woman's husband left for work, she heard someone kick open the front door and then a male's voice saying, "I know you are up there." The woman quickly called 911, whispering the unfolding situation to dispatchers.
After finding the woman and her children, Cordeiro ordered them to stay in the master bedroom and mentioned he had a gun. Cordeiro then went downstairs, giving the woman a brief opportunity to call her husband.
Cordeiro returned upstairs, demanding a cell phone. The woman lied and said it was downstairs.
As he escorted the woman downstairs, he explained his situation: He had stolen a car, so he needed to hide. He also needed money to buy drugs.
But then Cordeiro made her lie on a couch.
The woman told police Cordeiro said, "I'm gonna have some fun with you before the cops get me."
As Cordeiro began unbuckling his belt, a light illuminated the inside of the home, distracting him. It was police surrounding the house.
The woman grabbed a butcher knife and hid it under the couch, but when she realized the suspect was still distracted at the front door, she ran upstairs to the master bedroom with her children. At that point, police helped her hatch a plan to punch out the window screen and escape.
At 8 a.m., SWAT officers entered the home and apprehended Cordeiro.
On the ride to Metro headquarters, Cordeiro said he had been released from prison within the last year. Although "normally a good person," his meth use was spurring poor decisions, he said.
Cordeiro also lamented that officers didn't just kill him. Death, he said, would be better than spending the rest of his life in prison.
Detectives are investigating whether Cordeiro was involved in other similar, recent crimes.
Cordeiro is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning in Las Vegas Township Justice Court.
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