Man details attack on former Oakland Raiders receiver Javon Walker

By Cara McCoy

Published Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | 1:54 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | 5:35 p.m.

A man who pleaded guilty to his role in the beating and robbing of former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker was on the witness stand Tuesday, offering a jury his explanation of how the football player was found unconscious and injured in a parking lot near the Las Vegas Strip.

Shackled and wearing a blue Clark County Detention Center uniform, Arfat Fadel, 32, told jurors it was Deshawn Thomas’ idea to target Walker, who was “iced out,” or wearing expensive jewelry, and visibly intoxicated in the hours before being found robbed and beaten in the morning of June 16, 2008, near Winnick Avenue and Koval Lane.

Fadel told jurors he befriended Walker in hopes of playing cards and gambling with Walker’s money and didn’t know anything about what he said were Thomas’ plans for the robbery and beating.

He testified that after the robbery, Thomas gave him a diamond and platinum chain that Walker had been wearing around his neck, a 2-carat diamond stud earring and two casino chips worth $1,000 from the Hard Rock Hotel.

Fadel pleaded guilty April 9 to one count of robbery, one count of second-degree kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to testify against his co-accused, 42-year-old Deshawn Thomas, who is on trial in district court on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, first-degree kidnapping with substantial bodily harm, battery with substantial bodily harm, battery with intent to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Fadel told jurors that Thomas called him and told him to come to the Hard Rock Hotel, which was known for being a hot spot on Sunday nights. Fadel drove from the Orleans to the Hard Rock in his girlfriend’s black Range Rover. Thomas got in the vehicle and they looped around the Hard Rock valet. He said Thomas told him he had his eye on a drunken man who was stumbling and “iced out.” He said at the time he didn’t know Walker was a famous football player.

Fadel said Thomas told him to follow Walker’s party, which left in two vehicles. Near Planet Hollywood, the vehicles slowed. As Fadel and Thomas watched from the Range Rover, “Mr. Walker comes flying out the car. He fell, like on his face,” Fadel said. He said the car was still moving forward at the time Walker fell. “I know for sure he fell a couple of times,” Fadel said.

Walker eventually got up and got into the other vehicle in his party.

Fadel said he and Thomas followed Walker to the Bellagio valet, where they called out to him. He said Walker came over to their vehicle and leaned on the passenger side window, which was rolled down. Thomas, who was sitting in the passenger seat, complimented Walker on his watch, Fadel testified.

After a brief conversation, the men decided to go into the Bellagio and play cards. Fadel described himself as a full-time gambler who often befriends other gamblers and offers them tips while they play blackjack in hopes that he’ll get a cut of their winnings. He had used the same formula in Atlantic City before moving to Las Vegas in 2006, he said.

He said he wanted to play table games with Walker’s money at the Bellagio. But shortly after the trio walked into the Bellagio, plans changed and despite Fadel’s objections, a decision was made to go to Drai’s, which is an after-hours nightclub at Bill’s Gambling Hall. The men got back into the Range Rover.

This time, Walker got into the passenger seat and Thomas was in the backseat, Fadel said. As they were driving, Thomas said he wanted Fadel to pick someone up. Fadel said he got a feeling something bad might happen.

“I had a feeling, I just didn’t know what,” he said while being questioned by prosecutor Joshua Tomsheck.

He said Thomas directed him to the vacant condominium complex parking lot where Walker was eventually found.

As soon as he stopped the vehicle, Thomas grabbed Walker’s neck and demanded his jewelry, Fadel testified. After Walker handed over the items, Thomas told him to get out of the car. Walker got out, and Thomas followed, Fadel said.

He said he couldn’t see what happened, but when Thomas got back in the car, he said Thomas told him he had “hit him with a two piece,” meaning he hit Walker twice, and told Fadel to drive away. Fadel said he saw Walker in his rearview mirror, bent over on his knees.

Fadel said he was “in shock” about what was happening.

“I was thinking, ‘this is messed up, this is going to come back on me.’ I was worried about what had transpired,” he said. He assumed his license plate had been captured on surveillance video.

Fadel and Thomas were eventually identified after police released surveillance images to the media.

Fadel testified he was afraid of being caught and gave his share of the jewelry to the friend of a friend. The person he gave it to and the jewelry haven’t been found.

Thomas’ attorney, Richard Ramos, told the jurors during his opening arguments last week that they shouldn’t believe Fadel’s testimony, saying he had gotten a “sweetheart deal” in exchange for it.

From the stand, Fadel told jurors he understood that he could be facing 15 years in prison.

Thomas’ attorney, Betsy Allen, questioned Fadel as to why he had maintained his innocence for nearly two years between the incident and the trial.

Fadel said he didn’t initially believe he was guilty of a crime, but his research and advice from his attorney led him to believe he was culpable for aiding or abetting Thomas.

“I thought I was innocent because I didn’t beat him up. I didn’t take his stuff,” Fadel said.

She pointed out to jurors that under his agreement with prosecutors, he could be sentenced to a minimum of two years – and could get credit for time served. He also could get probation. The state rested its case after Fadel’s testimony.

A private investigator and a bartender who served Fadel and Thomas after the alleged incident testified Tuesday about the timeline in the case in an effort by Thomas’ attorneys to show he was on the other side of town when Walker was allegedly beaten.

Walker was on the stand last week and testified that expensive jewelry, casino chips, credit cards and cash were taken from him in the attack. He spent four days at a Las Vegas hospital, where he underwent surgery on his mouth. It took about nine weeks to fully recover, he said.

Thomas’ attorneys have suggested that Walker might have injured his face as a result of falling down while he was intoxicated.

Walker told the jury he was severely intoxicated and had a hazy recollection of the events that took place in the evening hours of June 15, 2008, through the early morning the next day. He was found at 7:18 a.m. after a night of partying at Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock.

Walker had come to Las Vegas from Arizona with a group of friends.

Thomas, an ex-felon, could face a life sentence if convicted. He’s being held in the Clark County Detention Center.

Testimony will resume Thursday afternoon.