A good Samaritan who was fatally shot in Las Vegas while trying to stop the robbery of a flower vendor Thursday has been identified by his family as a father of six.
The sister of Angel Robles, 36, of Las Vegas, said it was not out of character for Robles to try to intervene in the robbery in the 100 block of Upland Boulevard, near Jones Boulevard and Interstate 11.
“I’m not surprised that he would do something like that,” said Irene Garcia of Los Angeles. “That’s just Angel. He doesn’t like any injustice. He probably saw something going on, and he’s the type of person who is going to speak up when something is happening.
“We’ve tried to tell him sometimes, ‘Hey, don’t get involved. Don’t get involved,’” Garcia said. “This time no one was with him. He got involved. That’s just him. I am not surprised he would step in and help somebody — somebody in need.”
Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Robert Price said police received a 911 call around 5 p.m. Thursday reporting gunfire in the area. Officers at the scene discovered a man in his late 30s with an apparent gunshot wound had crashed his vehicle into a palm tree, Price said. Robles was taken to University Medical Center where he later died.
Detectives learned a woman was selling flowers on a nearby street corner when a man robbed her of her flowers, according to Price. Robles saw the robbery from his car and got out to try and stop the suspect.
Witnesses gave police a description of the alleged shooter, a man in his late 20s, and police took him into custody a few blocks away from the crash. The suspect has since been identified by police as Rodger Harrison III, 28. Las Vegas Justice Court records show Harrison is charged with murder and robbery, both with the use of a deadly weapon, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Harrison is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. He is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.
Garcia said her brother worked at a Las Vegas Valley Dollar Tree to support his six kids and to try and get ahead in life. He also was a T-ball coach and was a kind and caring man, she said. The family has created a GoFundMe to pay for funeral and burial expenses, with the hope of returning him to California where he was born and raised.
“So charismatic. Funny,” Garcia said, adding her brother was always “trying to make us laugh, trying to bring everybody’s spirits up.”
“His T-ball team adored him,” she said. “He was coaching his son’s T-ball team for a couple of years.”
Garcia said the family was planning to celebrate Robles’ birthday in a couple of weeks.
“Now we are planning his funeral for that weekend,” she said.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
