Vigilance Saves Woman's Life on the Las Vegas Strip | News

LAS VEGAS -- A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after violently beating up a woman and trying to rape her outside the Fashion Show Mall. An alert eyewitness saw it unfolding and quickly ran to police for help. They were able to chase the man down and arrest him.

The suspect allegedly shattered the driver's side window of the victim's car and pulled her out before hitting her. The incident was the perfect storm of extra police officers working the Strip and an observant witness who alerted them to what he saw.

Officers Stephan Parrish and Thomas O'Connell were sitting in a Metro van parked outside mall when a man came up and started banging on their window.

"He let us know there was a woman being assaulted in this parking lot, so I immediately got out and started running with the citizen showing me where it was at," said Officer Parrish.

In the dark employee parking lot, Parrish witnessed a crime in progress.

"I saw the suspect on top of the female and he was hitting her," he said. "I immediately went to gun and told him, 'Stop! Metro Police, stop!' and upon seeing that, he ran."

Officers chased down 37-year-old Lemon Butler inside the Trump Hotel and arrested him, all while his girlfriend slept in his car.

As part of Operation Safe Strip, more officers patrol the Strip on weekend nights.

"This was a local guy, a local victim and the benefit of having those extra cops on the Strip is what paid off that night," said Captain Todd Fasulo with Metro's Convention Center Area Command.

Butler had previous arrests for DUI, loitering for prostitution, and served prison time for a 2003 sexual assault. After he was released, he was placed on lifetime supervised parole. But because of discrepancies in the state law, it could be several months before this recent arrest is processed.

"It's very difficult for my officers to properly supervise these high-risk offenders when a lot of the violations aren't considered by the law a large enough violation to take them back to jail," said Sgt. Brian Zana with Parole and Probation.

bBtler has been charged with intent to commit sexual assault, kidnapping with a deadly weapon, attempted sexual assault and attempted murder.