LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a man who is accused of fatally stabbing a man and battering a police officer earlier this week, according to an arrest report.  

Police have accused Jesse Del Rosario, 43, of stabbing a man after an argument about drugs in a homeless encampment in the 1000 block of A Street near Washington Avenue.  

On Tuesday, May 30, at approximately 3:45 p.m., officers responded to the area after a report of a stabbing. After arriving, officers found a man, later identified as Patrick Lyons, 55, on the ground suffering from an apparent stab wound.  

Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene, according to police. His cause of death, later released by the coroner, was stab wounds to the chest, in the manner of homicide.

According to the report, a witness told police that Lyons had gotten into an argument that turned physical with the occupant of a nearby tent, later identified as Del Rosario.  

The witness told police they did not see either of the men with a weapon but said that Del Rosario was swinging “crossways and up,” the report said. The witness then saw Del Rosario grab several bags from his tent and leave.  

The report stated that that witness told police that Del Rosario had told him he had previously served ten years in prison in California.  

According to the report, a second witness told police that he had given Del Rosario a steak knife after Del Rosario told him that he did not feel safe, due to “having a large quantity of narcotics.”

That witness told police that on the morning of the murder, Lyons told him that Del Rosario had sold him bath salts instead of methamphetamine, the report stated.  

Video surveillance of the area showed Lyons approaching Del Rosario’s tent, after which Del Rosario exited and began to punch Lyons, according to the report. The two then continued to fight in the street. 

According to the report, Del Rosario can be seen with an “elongated object in his right hand,” which he swung at Lyons. Del Rosario can then be seen entering his tent and leaving with bags. The report stated that Lyons attempted to stand and walk away but fell down to where he was later discovered.  

During the investigation, a nearby Salvation Army told police that a man matching Del Rosario’s description had brandished a knife at staff on May 21.  

The report stated that on May 31, at approximately 2:05 p.m., an officer spotted Del Rosario walking south on Main Street from West Washington Avenue. The officer asked him to stop, to which Del Rosario replied “What did I do wrong?” before running away. 

During his attempt to run away, Del Rosario pushed the officer in the chest, the report said. The officer was able to take Del Rosario into custody with assistance from passing civilians.  

Del Rosario admitted to police that he did get into a fight with Lyons, saying that Lyons’ words and actions were “disrespectful.” He also admitted that the tent was his. According to the report, Del Rosario continued to deny stabbing Lyons before asking for a lawyer.  

Del Rosario was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he faces charges of open murder with a deadly weapon and battery on a protected person. As of publication, he is still being held in CCDC. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 1 at 1:30 p.m.