Police: Beating of tattoo parlor worker preceded deadly shootout

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Friday, July 22, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Packing firearms, Fern Dog and EZ went into a southeast valley tattoo parlor Monday night apparently looking for trouble; only one of them left the business alive.

According to a Metro Police arrest report:

The violence at Sin City Ink, 3430 E. Tropicana Ave., began as a physical attack.

“Fern Dog” — real name Fernando Montano, 26 — and Eric “EZ” Garcia, 28, walked into the parlor about 8:15 p.m. asking to speak with one of the workers they knew.

When the employee approached, Montano and Garcia pushed him to the floor, hit and kicked him.

As the attack continued, Montano yelled: “You know me. Say my name!”

Montano was “worked up” and Garcia pulled him away before they momentarily left the shop.

That’s when the worker went to the back of the store to get a gun from a safe. As he was heading to the front, shots rang out, he told police. Montano and Garcia had returned and a shootout ensued. Two other co-workers retrieved guns from their work stations but did not fire rounds.

After the gunfire, Montano lay dead near the glass doorway, the beating victim was grazed on the head and Garcia had fled in a champagne-color Cadillac Escalade.

Moments after 911 was called, officers spotted the Escalade about a mile north on Flamingo Road. Garcia was arrested and police found a loaded .40-caliber Hi-Point carbine rifle on the front passenger seat.

Garcia made an “unsolicited” statement: “I just needed to get away from there.”

Garcia’s girlfriend later showed up to the place of the arrest and was also taken into custody for disorderly conduct.

She told detectives that there had been a problem between the girlfriends of Montano and the tattoo artist.

Garcia was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one count each of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, burglary and shooting into an occupied building, jail logs show. He’s scheduled to appear in court Aug. 4.