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Damian Dovarganes / AP
Tehran Boldon, brother of victim Michael Boldon, a taxi driver killed in a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip, speaks to the media after attending a fugitive warrant hearing of suspect Amar Harris at Los Angeles Superior court Monday, Mar. 4, 2013. Harris is wanted for firing gunshots that led to a deadly, fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip is facing extradition from California to Nevada.
Published Monday, March 4, 2013 | 11:57 a.m.
Updated Monday, March 4, 2013 | 3:27 p.m.
Ammar Harris
LOS ANGELES — A self-described pimp suspected of a deadly shooting that caused a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip stood silently in court Monday while the grief-stricken brother of a taxi driver killed in the mayhem glared at him from the courtroom gallery.
The suspect, identified as Ammar Harris, 26, did not speak or enter a plea as proceedings began to extradite him to Nevada.
He was represented by a public defender, and the judge set another hearing March 14 to establish his identity.
The hearing lasted only a moment. But for Tehran Boldon, the brother of victim Michael Boldon, it had been worth the hours spent traveling from Long Beach and waiting in court.
"I would have come from China if I had to," he told The Associated Press.
Tehran Boldon later spoke of the devastation felt by members of his family after they learned that Michael Boldon and his passenger had died during the attack on an aspiring rapper.
"Mike was a go-to-guy, a real ... American, an honest, hardworking, God-fearing grandfather, brother and uncle," his brother said. "This man has destroyed my family deeply."
A chain-reaction crash on the Strip turned Boldon's cab into a fireball in a violent scene that some tourists who saw it compared to a scene from an action movie.
The March 14 hearing will require officials from Nevada to present evidence in the Los Angeles County court that the man identified as Harris in court is the same person who was being sought by authorities.
Such a hearing is often a part of the extradition procedure.
Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba rejected media requests to photograph Harris due to the pending identity issue. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt with a logo on the front.
Harris was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles, ending a weeklong manhunt that began after the Feb. 21 shooting and crash that killed three people and injured five others.
Authorities allege Harris was driving his black Range Rover SUV when he fired at least five shots into a Maserati sports car, killing Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr., an aspiring rapper who called himself Kenny Clutch.
The two men had argued minutes earlier in a casino valet area, police said.
After Cherry was struck, the Maserati careened into the taxi that exploded in a spectacular fireball at Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, one of the most famous neon-lit crossroads in Las Vegas.
Michael Boldon and his passenger were killed. A passenger in the Maserati was shot in the arm, and four people in four other vehicles were hurt, none seriously.
Law enforcement officers arrested Harris at an apartment in Studio City.
Harris is a convicted felon in South Carolina who shows fists full of money on Internet posts and boasts of a high-rolling lifestyle with prostitutes in Miami and Las Vegas.
Related stories
- Suspect in Las Vegas Strip shootings brags online about fast life (2-27-2013)
- Person of interest sought in Strip shooting (2-26-2013)
- Cab companies offer $35,000 reward for suspect’s arrest (2-26-2013)
- Police ‘confident’ suspect was lone gunman in Thursday’s Strip shooting (2-25-2013)
- Police identify suspect in Strip shooting that led to deaths of 3 people (2-23-2013)
- Candlelight vigil on Strip pays tribute to shooting victim Cherry (2-23-2013)
- 'He could always make me smile': Slain taxi driver leaves void at Desert Cab (2-23-2013)
- Family of Kenneth Cherry Jr. reeling after son killed on Strip (2-23-2013)
- Suspects in Strip shooting still at large; taxi passenger identified (2-22-2013)
- The reaction: Tourists try to make sense of the violence on the Strip (2-21-2013)
- Will Strip shootout and crash hurt Las Vegas tourism? (2-21-2013)
- Three killed after gunshots fired from SUV cause fiery crash on Las Vegas Strip (2-21-2013)
Public defender? What happended to all that cash that you loved to wave around Ammar? If there was ever a candidate for the death penalty, this piece of garbage would fit the criteria.
Public defender....you mean he can afford a Range Rover and gun but not an attorney fee?? Nice.
And what of these three unidentified women who were in the Range Rover with him? Are they accessories to a crime? What are there names?
Just don't blow it and set bail!!!!!
Ashley the 3 undentified women are the reason this scum was caught..would you like to do 20 years or tell us where he's at...
In Las Vegas, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said it was not common for suspects to ask for the proof of identity hearing in extradition proceedings.
Here we go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mem1-O3ZV...
He was represented by a public defender.[Sic]
In order to be granted a Public Defender you must first apply for it by providing bank statements Tax returns etc. etc. Would these documents used not also prove his Identity!
First
A cab driver who came out here, not to live the "good life" but to take care of a relative that had a stroke was incinerated in his cab, when he was trying to make a buck to support his family and be near his relative in there time of need.
A hard working mother was out here to attend a convention, she has kids and a family who miss her, too. She too, was incinerated in a taxi cab.
Are the families of these people going to get compensation to help them replace the money that these 2 bread winners were providing?
It is time for the community to cough up some money, unless you want an ugly lawsuit. I will chip in from my meager earnings. These clubs and casinos must do the right thing.
This guy, according to Metro was involved in a "rolling gun battle." Was there a gun in the other car? Did the moonlighting Metro cops working at the HAZE, let this guy in? Why? It looks like the women in the car have been given immunity for certain testimony. This looks like a more complicated event than one would think. Was it road rage? or premeditated? and why do off duty cops work at these drug thug clubs?
mred I agree with your post except for the community having to cough up some money. I'd surely donate to any cause for these individuals but why is our community to be held responsible. I agree that the night club and casino should definately help out and I'd also like to see the names of the off duty cops that worked there, if there was any.
He was represented by a public defender.[Sic]
In order to be granted a Public Defender you must first apply for it by providing bank statements Tax returns etc. etc. Would these documents used not also prove his Identity!
------
It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't have a bank account nor filed a tax return. Everything in cash..probably in a vault like the geezer on TV offers.
Yeah I may agree with you.
I bet momma will show up and say he's a good Boy!
Just wait - someone will make a blockbuster movie about this. They can help the victim's families through royalties.
I certainly understand Tehran Boldon's glare and the feelings of the family toward this killer.
A pimp shooting another pimp (woops, aspiring rapper) is one thing. However, innocent, decent people getting killed is quite another. My sympathy to the victims' families.
@tomD... nobody can earn money weather like in the jail cell. It seems you and Ashley2times would prefer the suspect be back out on the streets running girls in order to earn money for an attorney
The devastating pain in the photograph above certainly shows in the face of Michael Boldon's brother, Tehran. What a tragic loss.
I wish I knew what to say to help comfort this man. But, there are no words that I am aware of that can do that.