Man accused of stabbing RTC worker at downtown bus stop

Xavier Whatley (LVMPD).
A 40-year-old man is being held on $50,000 bail more than a week after his arrest on suspicion of stabbing and critically wounding a worker of the Regional Transport Commission at a bus drop in downtown Las Vegas.

Xavier Whatley, in custody since Tuesday at the Clark County Detention Center, is accused of thrusting a butcher knife into the left chest of the RTC worker George Duke on April 24 at South Casino Center Boulevard and Garces Avenue, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

At about 12:30 a.m. that morning, Duke contacted a group of individuals waiting at the stop to inform them he would be getting a bus to come by to choose them up, authorities investigators stated.

Whatley, among the individuals at the stop, then consistently screamed a profanity at the staff member, who asked the suspect to stop stating it "due to the fact that it was ill-mannered and rude," police wrote in the report.

The suspect then allegedly stabbed and brandished a knife Duke in the chest, which caused him to be required to UMC with important injuries, according to authorities.

When a police lieutenant and a K-9 officer got to the scene, they observed a trail of blood and followed it to the interior of a gated yard at 626 S. Third St. where they discovered Whatley concealing in some bushes.

Whatley had a fresh laceration on his hand, "constant with being cut by a blade," cops stated in the report.

Police recognized Whatley from RTC security video of the fight with Duke, based on Whatley using a comparable gray hoodie, black socks and slip on shoes as the individual in the video, authorities said.

Prior to his arrest, Whatley mentioned he did not remember what took place and asked for an attorney before responding to further questions.

After acquiring a search warrant, authorities recuperated a backpack, a knife sheath, a blood-stained white T-shirt, blue hat and a butcher knife with a 10-inch blade and evident blood on it, police reported.

Whatley's bail was set at $50,000. He deals with charges of tried murder and battery with making use of a lethal weapon, court records show.

His initial hearing in Justice Court is arranged for May 11, based on court records.

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on Twitter.