UPDATE ON DEC. 14: Las Vegas police say they have arrested Ronnie Rosario for the attack on the woman at a local Mexican restaurant. He was booked into Clark County Detention Center on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and a hate/bias crime.
ORIGINAL STORY
Las Vegas police are investigating after a brutal attack outside a Mexican restaurant that the victim says was sparked by racial slurs.
Carmen Porter says she decided to grab some food from the Roberto’s Taco Shop drive-thru, near Russell Road and Boulder Highway, after a long shift at work that ended early Monday morning.
But as she was pulling out, she heard another customer yell at her through the window.
"I heard him saying [racial expletive] into my window," Porter said.
The woman says she briefly considered her choices.
"Part of me wanted to drive off and go home, but obviously a bigger part of me wanted to confront him," Porter said.
She eventually parked her car and went to the front door.
"I asked him, what did you just say to me and began shouting and saying 'It is called freedom of speech. You heard me,'" Porter said.
In the video you can see the man standing at the front door for a while, where Porter says that argument laced with racial slurs continued.
The man eventually steps back inside, grabs a wet floor sign and is seen swinging it through the door. The swinging eventually stops and the man makes his way back inside, dropping the sign near the door.
Porter remained outside at that point, trying to call 911.
"At that point my phone is covered in blood, and it didn't process in my mind, get back in the car."
The attacker is then seen making his way back toward the counter where a friend picks up their order.
Porter was outraged when she saw that on the surveillance video.
"To see him walking back to the counter to finish ordering his food, like it was OK," Porter said. "I don't know what to do but be hurt and angry."
As the group makes their way out of the restaurant, the attacker is seen picking up the sign again. Another camera outside then recorded a second attack.
"I remember falling towards the rocks, and even when I was on my knees in the rocks he kept hitting me,” Porter said.
Another man is then seen pulling the attacker away and pushing him toward a car that then pulled away.
Porter says the 15 stitches are causing as much pain as the emotional wounds she suffered in the attack.
"Just the derogatory terms he was throwing at me with each whack. Makes me extremely angry," Porter said.
Porter said the detective working her case says he is hopeful they can track down her attacker in the next couple of days.
