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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 9:13 a.m., Tuesday, July 8, 2008

NFL: Second man held in Walker beating in Las Vegas

By KEN RITTER
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — A second man has been arrested on charges of abducting, pummeling and robbing NFL player Javon Walker after the Oakland Raiders wide receiver spent a night club-hopping in Las Vegas last month.

Deshawn L. Thomas, 40, was arrested Monday in Las Vegas and was being held without bail at the Clark County jail, police said today. Jail officials said it was not immediately clear if Thomas had a lawyer.

Thomas will be scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court to face felony kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy charges, police said in a statement. A justice of the peace was due to review Thomas' arrest documents tomorrow.

Investigators did not immediately respond to messages seeking details of Thomas' arrest.

Walker was found unconscious on a side street near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after dawn June 16, police said. He was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion, and told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were taken. It was not clear Tuesday if any money or jewelry had been recovered.

Police released a grainy black-and-white surveillance videotape June 24, identifying the man in it as a second suspect after the arrest of 30-year-old Arfat Fadel.

Fadel remained jailed pending a preliminary hearing July 16. His lawyer has said he will plead not guilty to kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Investigators have said Fadel and another man appeared on surveillance videotapes at some of the same casinos and clubs where Walker partied and gambled the night of June 15. Walker was photographed spraying champagne into a crowd at the Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock hotel-casino.

Just before 6 a.m. on June 16, police say Walker willingly got into the front passenger seat of a black Range Rover in the valet parking area at the Bellagio hotel-casino.

Fadel and the other man "clearly and methodically lured Walker into the vehicle as he represented (an) easy target due to his level of intoxication," police said in a report. Police say Fadel was driving and the other man got in the back seat.

Walker later told police he was grabbed by the neck from behind, and did not recall much more. He said he did not know who the men were.

Walker's agent, Kennard McGuire of Richmond, Texas, and a spokesman for the Raiders did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Walker was a first-round draft pick in 2001 by the Green Bay Packers. He was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2006, and released last February before he was signed by Oakland to a six-year, $55 million deal.

On New Year's Day 2007, Broncos teammate Darrent Williams died in Walker's arms in the back of a limousine after a drive-by shooting in downtown Denver.

Walker later said then-teammate Brandon Marshall and his cousin exchanged angry words with two men who confronted Williams and his group after taking offense when Marshall sprayed them with champagne.