Las Vegas, NV (AP) - An argument led to the weekend stabbing death on The Las Vegas Strip of a Seattle area police officer, authorities said Monday.
Las Vegas Metro Police say the Saturday night incident on a pedestrian bridge outside of New York New York culminated from an altercation over dogs.
They say the suspect, 58-year-old Freddy Allen, has been booked on suspicion of murder with a deadly weapon. He refused to go to his initial court appearance Monday.
The police department in Edmonds, 15 miles north of Seattle, said on their Facebook page that the victim was Officer Tyler Steffins and he was off-duty at the time.
Officers first at the scene found Allen wielding a knife. They say he tried to flee but was arrested.
According to an arrest report a man accompanied by Allen claims Steffins was petting his dogs in an aggressive manner. The man also says he had a similar interaction with the victim the night before.
Allen and this other man got into an argument with Steffins. That’s when Allen allegedly stabbed him in the chest, police said. Police say Allen then fled the scene but was found shortly thereafter in possession of a knife
Steffins was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Edmonds Police say Steffins had been with the department since August 2018. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.