Las Vegas Police via AP

18-year-old Jacob Dismont, left, and 21-year-old Michael Solid were booked into the Clark County jail on charges related to the killing of a teenage boy over an iPad.

Two men have been arrested in the killing of a teenage boy over an iPad in Las Vegas, police said Sunday.

Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were booked Saturday into the Clark County jail on charges of open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

According to investigators, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking down a street with the iPad on Thursday when a passenger got out of a vehicle and tried to steal the device from him.

Dismont is accused of trying to wrest the tablet away and dragging Arenas toward the SUV when the youth wouldn't let go of the device. After Dismont re-entered the vehicle and Solid sped away, the teen was dragged until he fell, police said. The vehicle ran over Arenas and he died at a hospital.

"I think both the public and police department share the same sentiment that this was a senseless act of violence," police spokesman Bill Cassell told The Associated Press.

The suspects succeeded in making off with the device, officers said.

Ivan Arenas said he bought the iPad for his son less than two months ago. The family has never had a lot, the father said, and his son valued everything he had.

"For him to lose his life over an iPad, it's just not fair," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Never in my life would I imagine that me buying my kid an iPad for his birthday would end up with him getting run over."

Similar thefts of iPads, IPhones and other Apple devices have become so widespread nationwide that the crime has earned the nickname, "Apple picking," Cassell said.

"This is a nationwide phenomenon where thieves are targeting individuals who are carrying them," he said.

Police urge victims of such crimes to always let go of the devices.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Former O.J. Simpson defense attorney Yale Galanter testifies during an evidentiary hearing for Simpson in Clark County District Court on May 17, 2013, in Las Vegas, Nev.

A former attorney for O.J. Simpson took the stand Friday and said the former football player knew two companions would be armed with guns when they went to a Las Vegas hotel room to retrieve memorabilia that he claims was stolen from him.

Simpson, 65, is serving nine to 33 years after being convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping for the 2007 confrontation. In seeking a new trial, Simpson's claims are that he didn't know a weapon was used and he got bad legal representation at his trial.

Simpson has said attorney Yale Galanter didn't argue at the trial that he was not aware his two companions were carrying guns during the confrontation at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in September 2007 because Simpson was drunk at the time. On the stand Friday, Galanter said he poured "blood, sweat and soul" into Simpson's defense but added that he couldn't mount that defense because the former NFL star was not intoxicated at the time.

"The truth of the matter is that when you look at the entire trial I don't think I could have fought harder or done more," Galanter said. "I gave every ounce of blood, sweat and soul into this defense team."

Galanter also said Simpson told him he had asked one of his companions to bring "heat" to the hotel room meeting, and that he was aware another man would also have a gun. He also testified that he told Simpson to call the police instead of going in himself.

Simpson testified Wednesday that guns never came up as he and the other men discussed going to the memorabilia dealers' room to size up the merchandise, that he didn't see anyone pull a gun inside the room, and that his pals later denied a weapon was shown before they left with some items.

Simpson famously did not take the stand during the sensational 1995 trial at which he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

He also did not take the stand during the robbery trial five years ago — a decision that will be key in arguments that Galanter gave him bad advice during the 2008 robbery trial.

If Simpson doesn’t prevail at this proceeding -- and legal experts say he's a long shot, he must serve five more years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Related:

O.J. Simpson takes stand in bid to have robbery conviction overturned

O.J. Simpson, making a long-shot bid for a new trial, testified Wednesday he had no idea that any of his companions were armed when they went to a Las Vegas hotel room to retrieve memorabilia that he claims was stolen from him.

“I would not have imagined in my wildest dreams that these guys would have guns," Simpson said on the stand during a court hearing that will determine if he gets a new trial.

Simpson is serving nine to 33 years after being convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping for the 2007 confrontation. Among his claims is that he didn't know a weapon was used and he got bad legal representation at his trial.

During his first few hours on the stand, the former football star recounted a boozy day with friends at the Palms hotel, where he was staying for a friend's wedding, capped by a chaotic face-off with the memorabilia dealers at the nearby Palace Station.

He said guns never came up as he and the other men discussed going to the dealers' room to size up the merchandise, that he didn't see anyone pull a gun inside the room, and that his pals later denied a weapon was shown before they left with some items.

"I was kind of stunned," he said of his mental state after he walked into the crowded hotel room and surprised the sellers, who thought they were meeting an anonymous buyer. "I was looking at stuff I hadn't seen in 10 years."

Asked about audiotape on which he is heard saying that the dealers shouldn't be allowed out of the room, Simpson said his intent was legitimate.

"If they don't want to give [the items] to me, I want them arrested," he said.

Earlier, Simpson testified that he had been drinking steadily before the clash and was so tired he missed a golf game and wanted to take a nap.

He said he had been drunk enough the night before that “I wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of a car.” He then had “a Bloody Mary or two” at a midday breakfast, and kept drinking by the hotel pool, he testified.

“I had a joke: ‘My doctor says I should never have an empty glass’ is what I would tell the waitress,” he said.

Simpson, 65, appeared grayer and heavier than he did when he was sent to prison. Wearing jailhouse blues and shackles on his legs, he occasionally chuckled as he calmly answered questions from his appeals team.

He famously did not take the stand during the sensational 1995 trial at which he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

He also did not take the stand during the robbery trial five years ago — a decision that will be key in arguments that lawyer Yale Galanter gave him bad advice during the 2008 robbery trial.

Simpson told the court that he wanted to testify in his own defense and always assumed he would, but Galanter wouldn't commit to that strategy.

"Late in the trial he said he didn't think I should testify, that they hadn't proven their case... that there was no way I could be convicted," he said. "I had to trust his judgment on that."

He said Galanter told him that he "could not be convicted" and squelched suggestions from another lawyer that he take the stand and explain what happened that night.

Under cross-examination, Simpson agreed that he had been told by the judge that he had the right to testify on his own behalf.

He also testified that Galanter knew about his plan to got to the Palace Station to see if he could reclaim the memorabilia and that the lawyer said, "You have the right to get your stuff" as long as he wasn't trespassing.

He told Galanter that if he found a suit he wore during the 1995 trial, he planned to "burn it," and the attorney insisted that he bring it to him instead.

Simpson said he wanted to reclaim the memorabilia — including items that vanished after his murder trial — because it belonged to his children and his family, “not some guy selling at a hotel room in Vegas.”

The mementos, he said, included commemorative footballs, old pictures with presidents and a picture of himself with former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, “before we heard about J. Edgar Hoover and the tutus and stuff.”

Galanter is expected to testify during the hearing, which is schedule to continue through the week.

If Simpson doesn’t prevail at this proceeding, which legal experts say is a long shot, he must serve five more years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

This story was originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 1:06 PM EDT

Julie Jacobson/AP

O.J. Simpson, right, sits in Clark County District Court on Monday with his attorney, Patricia Palm. Simpson, who is serving nine to 33 years as a result of his 2008 conviction on armed robbery and kidnapping charges, is seeking a new trial on grounds of ineffective counsel.

Simpson — who did not take the stand during the explosive 1995 trial for the murder of his wife and her friend, which ended in his acquittal — is expected to testify midway through the five-day hearing. Galanter is also slated to take the stand.

If he doesn't prevail at this proceeding, known as a writ of habeas corpus, Simpson, 65, must serve five more years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

On the stand for the hearing, a friend of Simpson described Galanter as "somewhat dismissive" of any concerns his client voiced about the way the trial was going.

“Mr. Simpson was ...somewhat intimidated by Mr. Galanter. He was dominated by him. He tended not to question what he told him,” said James Barnett, a Las Vegas businessman.

“If Mr. Simpson would ask about some specific point in court, he would say, 'That’s not important' or 'Don’t worry about it.'”

Barnett said he was told by Galanter's co-counsel, Gabriel Grasso, that Grasso had his 15-year-old son perform analysis of audiotapes that were a key piece of evidence in the trial because they couldn't afford to hire experts.

The appeals team also questioned Dr. Norman Roitman, a psychiatrist who specializes in the effects of alcohol on perception.

The lawyers asked Roitman whether someone who fit Simpson's physical description, who had been "drinking all day" and the night before and was sleep-deprived and stressed-out, might experience poor perception in a crowded hotel room where he expected to find personal items he had not seen for 15 years.

Speaking hypothetically, Roitman said that person would.

A lawyer for Simpson's co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart testified Monday that prosecutors in the midst of the trial offered a plea deal -- a two- to five-year sentence for each defendant in return for guilty pleas. Prosecutors said they were presenting it to Simpson's lawyers but later said there was no deal, Bryson said. 

Bryson said he didn't know if Simpson had ever been told about the deal. Simpson claims he was not. 

Simpson's co-counsel in the 2008 trial, Las Vegas criminal defense attorney Grasso, testified that Galanter told him he would give Simpson the news of the plea deal and that day went off to talk to Simpson privately.

When Galanter came back, he said, "We're not taking a deal," Grasso said. Grasso, however, admitted he never talked to Simpson about the guilty-plea offer and did not know what Galanter had told Simpson at that time.

Grasso testified that Galanter made the key decision for the defense team. He said Grasso rarely even involved his co-counsel in discussions with Simpson.

"Yale was O.J.’s lawyer. I was just the odd man out, the third wheel," Grasso said.

Grasso said he wanted to file a motion to suppress the tapes from being entered into evidence at the trial because they made Simpson look bad, and because it could be argued the tapes were recorded secretly. Galanter, however, did not want to challenge the tape evidence, Grasso said.

The defense also did not have the benefit of experts to challenge the tapes in  the courtroom because Galanter said there was no money to pay for them, Grasso said. 

“In a case of this magnitude, we don’t have any help?" Grasso asked, noting the state had hired a jury consultant.

Grasso also said he favored letting Simpson take the stand and told the former football player that, but Galanter rejected that notion, telling him "don't advise O.J."

Grasso was expected to continue his testimony in the hearing on Tuesday.

Jeff Black of NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Mon May 13, 2013 12:27 PM EDT

O.J. Simpson will head to a Las Vegas courtroom Monday in a bid to have his conviction on armed robbery and kidnapping charges thrown out on the grounds that he did not receive proper legal representation at his 2008 trial.

Simpson, serving 9 to 33 years in prison for his role in a bizarre hotel room robbery in which the former actor and football star argued he was trying to reclaim memorabilia that had been stolen form him, has filed what lawyers call a "Hail Mary motion" seeking freedom.  Simpson argues his conviction should be set aside and a new trial ordered because of "ineffective counsel and conflict of interest."

Most defendants lose these writ of habeas corpus motions, but in this case nobody is taking bets on the outcome.

"Nothing is the same when O.J. is involved," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, who observed Simpson's Los Angeles trial. "An O.J. case is never like any other case."

Simpson was famously acquitted on murder charges related to the death of his ex-wife and her friend in a 1995 trial that captivated the nation. When he was sentenced in 2008, Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, referencing the murder trial, said that her penalty was not intended as "retribution or any payback for anything else."

She made no mention of the two Las Vegas police detectives overheard in a taped conversation saying that if California authorities couldn't "get" Simpson, those in Nevada would. The tape was played at the trial.

Simpson has filed 19 claims of ineffective counsel and attorney conflict of interest in the 2008 case. Simpson contends his trial attorney never told him about a plea bargain that had been offered by prosecutors. He also said in a sworn statement that the same attorney knew about the memorabilia sting before it happened, and "he advised me that I was within my legal rights."

Simpson is expected to testify sometime during the week-long hearing.

Now 65 years old, Simpson has already spent the last four years in prison and must serve at least nine years of his maximum 33-year sentence before he is even eligible for parole. He would be 70 by then. If Simpson doesn't win a new trial, he could conceivably spend the rest of his life locked up.

Sam Mircovich / AFP - Getty Images file

Double murder defendant O.J. Simpson puts on one of the bloody gloves as a Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy looks on during the O.J. Simpson murder trial on June, 15, 1995.

Simpson, according to trial testimony, organized a posse of five friends and acquaintances to accompany him to a hotel where he was told some men were trying to sell his mementos, including family pictures. It was to be a sting of sorts, in which the memorabilia dealers would think an anonymous buyer was coming.

When Simpson walked into the Las Vegas hotel room, he realized he knew the sellers from previous dealings and he accused them of stealing from him. He shouted that no one was to leave the room - an action that would be judged to fit the legal definition of kidnapping. As Simpson's guys began bagging up the memorabilia, one of them pulled a gun, according to trial testimony.

No one was injured, but the sellers called the police - and another Simpson case for another century was launched.

It turned out that Tom Riccio, another memorabilia dealer who played middleman between Simpson and the sellers, had planted a tape recorder in the hotel room and the tape, played for jurors, was powerful evidence.

Simpson's cohorts testified against him, including the man who said he brought a gun. They were an odd assortment of down-on-their luck Vegas characters who received plea deals and were set free on probation.

Simpson's co-defendant at his trial, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, served more than two years in prison before the Nevada Supreme Court overturned his conviction. The justices ruled Simpson's fame tainted the proceedings and that Stewart should have been tried separately. Stewart took a plea deal to avoid a retrial and was released.

Those who try to explain Simpson's fall from grace it come back to one word - hubris, the literary allusion to excessive self-confidence, pride and arrogance. Simpson refused to accept that people didn't idolize him anymore. He boasted about his continuing celebrity status. He was delighted that people still wanted his autograph and wanted to hang out with him at the pool of The Palms hotel in Las Vegas. And that was where the disastrous plan was born.

He had come to Las Vegas that September of 2007 for a happy event. His old friend, Tom Scotto, was getting married and invited Simpson to be his best man. Scotto still sounds anguished when he recalls the weekend.

"If it wasn't for me," Scotto said in an interview, "he wouldn't have been there."

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. via AP

Nevada state Assembly member Steven Brooks is seen in a booking photo Feb. 10, 2013 after he was arrested on charges that he physically attacked a family member and grabbed for a police officer's weapon over the weekend.

Former Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks has been arrested in California on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. 

Jail records show Barstow police arrested Brooks, 41, at about 7 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 15 at Stoddard Wells. 

"We had started to discuss possible next steps," Mitchell Posin, Brooks' attorney, told The Associated Press Friday. "Next thing I know, I heard about this." 

Posin said he had no details about the arrest, or about why Brooks was on the interstate in Barstow. 

Records show the North Las Vegas Democrat was taken to a San Bernardino County jail in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on $100,000 bail. 

The Nevada Assembly voted Thursday morning to oust Brooks, after Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas, called him "potentially dangerous" and said lawmakers didn't feel safe with him in the building. 

"This really saddens me," Horne said Friday, after learning of the arrest. "I hope they get Steven the help he clearly needs before he or someone else is hurt or worse." 

This is the third time Brooks has been arrested since January. 

He's accused of making threats toward his colleagues, including Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. Police said Brooks had a gun and ammunition in his car. No charges have been filed. 

He was arrested again Feb. 10 at his estranged wife's home in Las Vegas after police say he threw punches and grabbed for the gun of an officer who responded to a domestic dispute. He faces a court hearing in May in Las Vegas on one felony and three lesser charges. 

Brooks also was denied the purchase of a gun in Sparks last month after he was banished from the chambers. Posin said there's been a misunderstanding and Brooks poses no real threat to anyone. 

Horne said Brooks' unpredictable behavior — which included missing meetings, calling news conferences he never showed up for, and posing shirtless for a Las Vegas newspaper — had made the session look "more like a circus and daytime drama than a serious legislative body." 

Cathleen Allison / AP

Nevada Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas, hugs Assemblywoman Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, following an emotional and historic vote to expel fellow Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, during the Assembly floor session at the Legislative Building in Carson City, Nev., on March 27.

It led to hours of closed meetings and a Select Committee hearing Tuesday night in which a panel voted 6-1 to recommend to expel Brooks. 

The committee said a 900-page investigative report that members reviewed was not made public because of the private nature of the findings. 

Assemblywoman Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, was the lone dissenter on the committee, saying she preferred a less harsh penalty like suspension. 

Neal choked on emotion before the Assembly Thursday, often pausing to gain composure during her remarks. 

"I understand that expulsion is the highest form of discipline," Neal said. "I also understand that the action is the equivalent of political death on all levels, whether it be suspension or expulsion." 

But, she added, "I believe in the human form in all its frailties and all of its faults. 

"I also believe in the power of human recovery." 

After the somber 32-minute floor session, Neal was consoled by Horne, who chaired the Select Committee that recommended Brooks' ouster. 

"We did not feel safe having Assemblyman Brooks in this building," Horne said. "We wanted to protect people in this building and go about our business." 

Reached immediately after the vote, Brooks was aghast. 

"How dare they?" Brooks told the AP in a brief telephone interview. "I've been convicted of nothing." 

Brooks alleged during the interview that unspecified opponents have tried to kill him. He didn't take questions. 

Brooks won re-election in November by a 2-1 margin over an unknown challenger. 

It was the first time the Legislature initiated the expulsion of a member since a lawmaker was accused of libeling other members in 1867. However, that case never came to a formal vote. 

REUTERS/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Handou

Ammar Harris is shown in this undated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department handout photo.

The suspect in last week's triple slaying on the Las Vegas Strip has been arrested in Los Angeles, the Clark County District Attorney's Office said on Thursday.

Ammar Harris, 26, was taken into custody in LA in connection with the shooting death of Oakland rapper Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. aka Kenny Clutch, officials said.

Details about his arrest were not immediately available. KSNV, NBC's affiliate in Las Vegas, reported that the suspect was hiding out in LA at a friend's home that a task force of officers had been watching.

Las Vegas police expect to have more information about the arrest at an afternoon press conference.

Police accuse the suspect of being the driver of a Range Rover from which gunfire erupted, killing the 27-year-old rapper.

Clutch died at the wheel of a Maserati.

The Maserati crashed into a taxicab which subsequently exploded, killing the driver and the 48-year old passenger.

Harris was identified by police as the lead suspect in the case.

Harris could be seen online boasting about the stacks of money that have come his way thanks to being a pimp, according to reports.

In one video, Harris "flashes a thick stack" of $100 bills.

In a Web posting, he boasts of the flock of women at his home, all of whom are working for him.

In another, he talks about the birthday party he is organizing on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean, replete with a $1,000 bikini contest, the AP reported.

REUTERS/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department photograph shows Tineesha Lashun Howard, also know as Yenesis Alfonzo, 22 years of age of Miami Florida, with Ammar Harris.

A 22-year-old woman has been named as a person of interest in the shooting that lit up the Las Vegas Strip last week, leaving three dead.

Police said Tineesha Lashun Howard, a Miami resident who is also known as Yenesis Alfonzo, was thought to have been in an SUV with the suspect sought in the shooting.

The green-eyed, brown-haired woman was listed as missing and might be in danger, police said, according to NBCLosAngeles.com.

Suspect Ammar Harris, 26, has a criminal history involving soliciting prostitution, trespassing, grand larceny, and possession of a stolen vehicle, according to police.

Investigators believe Harris was at the wheel of a black Range Rover and fired the shots that killed aspiring rapper Kenneth Cherry, 27, as the victim drove his silver Maserati through a section of the Strip that includes Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, and Bally’s.

The gunfire caused the Maserati to spin out of control, crashing into a taxi that exploded into a fireball, killing the two occupants, police say.

Harris is also suspected of being “involved in the sex trade,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Officer Bill Cassell told Reuters.

What relationship Harris and Howard may share is so far unknown, but police in Florida have said the woman is "missing and possible endangered," NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

"She's listed as a missing person," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Officer Bill Cassell said, according to Reuters. "How she went missing is part of the Miami Police Department's investigation."

The manhunt for Harris, who has lived in South Carolina and Georgia, has widened to the southeastern states.

“We have him identified,” Las Vegas police Captain Chris Jones told the Associated Press. “Now the focus is on locating and apprehending him. We’re getting help all over the place.”

A SWAT team did not find Harris when they raided a Las Vegas apartment on Saturday after the SUV suspected of being involved in the shooting was found in a garage near the Strip.

Police have said that the shooting on the neon-lit thoroughfare may have come about after Cherry and Harris got into a verbal altercation in the valet area of the nearby Aria Resort and Casino.

Anyone who is “harboring” Harris as police cast their multi-state net for him may face charges as well, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lieutenant Ray Steiber told a press conference on Monday.

“We are utilizing every available resource at our disposal to locate and take into custody Mr. Harris,” Steiber said. “He’s wanted for three murders.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Suspect identified in deadly Vegas Strip shooting
• Aspiring rapper among the dead after explosive Vegas Strip shooting
• Hail of bullets from black Range Rover leads to three deaths on Vegas Strip

Uncredited / AP

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Ammar Harris in a booking photo from a 2012 arrest in Las Vegas. Police have identified Harris as a suspect in a shooting that sent a Maserati into a taxi that exploded, killing three people on Feb. 21, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Police have identified a suspect in an early morning shooting and pileup that killed three people and injured at least six on Las Vegas' famous Strip Thursday, NBC affiliate KSNV reported.

Police are seeking Ammar Harris, 26, in the shooting and subsequent car crashes that occurred in a section of the Strip that includes Caesars Palace, Bally’s and the Bellagio.

The shooting came after the occupants of a black Range Rover and a Maserati got into an altercation in the valet area of the Aria hotel and casino, according to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

“We have numerous witnesses to this,” Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said. “But what is the genesis of this? We don’t know yet.”

The suspect was in the Range Rover, while 27-year-old aspiring rapper Kenny “Clutch” Cherry of Oakland, Calif., was at the wheel of the Maserati.

According to reports, the Range Rover pulled up and allegedly opened fire into the Maserati near a stoplight in the pre-dawn hours. A passenger was injured by the gunfire and Cherry was killed, causing the car to spin out of control. The careening silver Maserati smashed into a taxicab, trapping the passenger and driver and causing the cab to burst into flames; both occupants were killed, police said.

Then, the Maserati smashed into three other cars before coming to a stop. 

The taxi driver was identified as Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas. His passenger was Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash. She was a two-time breast cancer survivor. Both died of "multiple blunt force injuries," the coroner's office said.

All three deaths were classified as homicide.

Police released a photo that was taken when Harris was arrested last year on pandering, kidnapping, sexual assault and coercion charges, according to The Associated Press.

KSNV reported that police did not find Harris at his residence Saturday, but the black Range Rover was found just a few blocks away from the intersection where the violent incident occurred.

Police also said they found shell casings in Harris's apartment that linked him to Cherry's death.

NBC News' Matthew DeLuca and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Aspiring rapper among the dead after explosive Vegas Strip shooting

The driver of a Maserati that was shot up early Thursday morning on Las Vegas’ famed Strip, causing the vehicle to crash into a taxi cab and leading to a deadly explosion, was a 27-year-old aspiring rapper, according to his family.

Three people were killed and at least six injured as a result of the 4:30 a.m. shooting and subsequent car crashes in a section of the Strip that includes Caesars Palace, Bally’s and the Bellagio. 

The shooting came after the occupants of a Range Rover and the Maserati got into an altercation in the valet area of the Aria hotel and casino, according to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

“We have numerous witnesses to this,” Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said. “But what is the genesis of this? We don’t know yet.”

A major manhunt is under way for the occupants of the Range Rover.

Kenny “Clutch” Cherry of Oakland, Calif. was at the wheel of the Maserati, his father told NBCBayArea.com on Thursday, when a black Range Rover with tinted windows and black rims pulled up and allegedly opened fire near a stoplight in the pre-dawn hours.

A passenger was injured by the gunfire and Cherry was killed, causing the car to spin out of control. The careening silver Maserati smashed into a taxicab, trapping the passenger and driver and causing the cab to burst into flames; both occupants were killed, police said. Then, the Maserati smashed into three other cars before coming to a stop. 

The Maserati driver was a Chico State dropout who had gone to Las Vegas to pursue a rap career, father Kenneth Cherry, Sr., told NBCBayArea.com. He had filmed a music video on the Strip featuring his Maserati just months before. Cherry left behind three children, including a toddler and 2-month-old baby girl.

“I heard there was some sort of disagreement and the guys pulled to the side of him, and rolled their window down, and he rolled his window down,” Cherry said. “They just started shooting. My son for the record did not have any guns in his car. There was no gun battle. Nothing like that.”

Attorney Vicki Greco told Reuters she had represented the deceased Cherry in a civil case and a few traffic issues.

The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner confirmed Cherry's identity and said he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The taxi driver was identified as Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas. His passenger was Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash. Both died of "multiple blunt force injuries," the office said.

All three deaths were classified as homicide.

In Las Vegas, visitors and law enforcement reacted with shock to the violent spectacle. The Strip has seen other recent incidents of violence, including a man who fired a gun inside the Circus Circus casino on New Year’s Eve and a parking garage shooting on Feb. 6.

“We get stabbings and gang violence,” Mark Thompson, a visitor from Manchester, England, told The Associated Press, “but this is like something out of a movie. Like ‘Die Hard’ or something.”

Officers are searching for the Range Rover with paper dealership plates and its male African-American occupants, police said. They are combing through surveillance tape for clues.

“Finding those involved is a top priority for my agency and law enforcement here in southern Nevada,” Sheriff Douglas Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told NBC affiliate KSNV.

Related:

• Hail of bullets from black Range Rover leads to three deaths on Vegas Strip

This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:19 AM EST

KSNV

Several cars were wrecked as a result of a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip near the famed Bally's casino.

Las Vegas police are looking for a black Range Rover after a sudden burst of gunshots and a car fire led to the deaths of three people on the famed Strip, shutting down the gambling boulevard in several directions.

A Range Rover Sport with black rims and tinted windows pulled up to a Maserati at a stoplight at the intersection of Las Vegas and Flamingo Boulevards around 4:20 a.m. Thursday, Sgt. John Sheahan of the Las Vegas Police Department said.

The occupants of the SUV opened fire on the Maserati as both cars went through the intersection. The driver and passenger were hit by bullets, killing the driver, according to Sheahan, and the Maserati flew out of control, striking three other vehicles and a taxi cab.

The cab burst into a fireball, killing the driver and a passenger, as the Range Rover fled the scene. It doesn’t appear the occupants of the Maserati ever fired back, Sheahan told The Associated Press, contradicting initial reports from the scene.

The shooting occurred in an area of the Strip occupied by some of the city’s most famous casinos, including Caesars Palace, Bally’s and the Bellagio.

Four people were taken to the University Medical Center in downtown Las Vegas with moderate injuries, hospital spokeswoman Danita Cohen told NBC News. Three of those patients were treated and released, Cohen said, while a fourth remains at the hospital. Cohen did not disclose the status of the remaining victim. 

All four injured persons were adult males, according to Cohen. The identities of the individuals have not been released.

Police are warning people to be careful if they spot the black SUV that fled the scene. Police said the car has paper plates from a car dealer, though it’s not clear what state the plates were from.

“We want to remind everyone that they are armed and dangerous,” said Officer Jose Hernandez of the Las Vegas Police Department.

The manager of the Desert Cab company said the taxi involved belonged to his company, but declined to say anything else to the AP.