Hotel chemical attack may take man’s sight
Tenant, 60, arrested at scene, denied bail
A Las Vegas extended-stay hotel desk clerk may have been blinded after a tenant allegedly threw toilet bowl cleaner in his face last month.
Christopher King, 60, faces charges of mayhem and battery in connection with the attack at the Town and Country Manor, 4311 Boulder Highway. He was arrested Dec. 30, the same day Kenneth O’brien landed in the intensive care unit at University Medical Center with chemical burns.
At 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 30, Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the complex after several 911 callers reported hearing O’brien yelling for help inside the complex’s front office.
When officers arrived, the 61-year-old victim, who police said was bleeding from the mouth, identified King as the man who had attacked him. He told officers “his face was on fire, his mouth was on fire, his eyes were on fire,” a police document detailed.
As of Monday, according to updates posted to a Gofundme page created to assist with medical costs, O’brien remained hospitalized with injuries that have made it difficult for him
“to see or even drink water.”
Police said that while handcuffed and on the ground outside his Town and County apartment unit, King motioned to his car, where officers found the container of concentrated toilet bowl cleaner used in the attack. His motive remained unclear Monday.
Dr. Michael Holtz, who treated O’brien, said his patient suffered scarring burns on his face from the attack and retinal scarring in his eyes, which could lead to blindness.
“No one with such a huge heart deserves this,” said Christina Winston, a friend.
King is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center and is due in court Jan. 17.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.