Sex offender accused of beating woman near Strip

By Gregan Wingert

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 | 5:53 p.m.

Metro Police arrested a convicted sex offender accused of beating a woman Saturday night near the Strip.

Lemon Butler, 37, of Las Vegas, was taken into custody on charges of battery with intent to commit sexual assault, kidnapping in the first degree with a deadly weapon, attempted sexual assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder, according to Clark County Detention Center records.

At around 9:45 p.m., a citizen alerted police to a battery in progress in a parking lot near Fashion Show Drive, police said.

Metro patrol officers, who were in the area as part of the Safe Strip Initiative, went to the area on foot and found a man who was leaning over a woman and punching her, police said.

The man, who was later identified as Butler, was taken into custody after a foot chase and brief altercation, police said.

Police say Butler had approached the woman while she was in her vehicle in a parking lot near Fashion Show Drive, broke the driver’s side window and dragged the woman out through the window.

Butler, a convicted sex offender who is on lifetime supervised parole, has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center. He’s scheduled to appear in court later this week.