metro police
Angel Martinez
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 | 6:15 p.m.
A transient man would frequent eateries in the north valley to ask for “handouts,” and when he wasn’t given money or food, he would grow aggressive. That’s what happened Sunday night when he fatally stabbed a taco shop employee who had escorted him out of the restaurant, Metro Police allege.
The suspect’s arrest report today identified the victim as Ciro Vasquez, who died at University Medical Center from a stab wound to his chest.
Angel Martinez, 29, missed court appearances this week because he was recovering at UMC from cuts to his hands, Las Vegas Justice Court logs show. He’s being held on a murder count, without the possibility of bail.
Police said that Martinez, about 7:20 p.m., walked into the taqueria in the 3600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, near Walnut Road, and was immediately kicked out, since he’d been a nuisance.
Vasquez escorted him out to the parking lot, where a physical confrontation ensued and culminated in the fatal stabbing by Martinez, police said.
Officers found Martinez nearby, still armed with a knife, police said.
He told detectives that he’d been in a fight and that he acted in self-defense, but that he hadn’t used the knife, according to the report.
Witnesses said Martinez was the aggressor, the report said.
Martinez, who is being represented by the public defender’s office, is scheduled to appear in front of a judge on Nov. 4.
