Judge Sets Bail For Man Held In Javon Walker Case

Ken Ritter | Associated Press

June 29, 2008

LAS VEGAS -- A man charged with kidnapping, beating and robbing Javon Walker this month after the Oakland wide receiver spent a night club-hopping was held Friday on bail totaling $86,000.

Arfat Fadel's lawyer, public defender Shane Emerick, said outside court he doubted Fadel could make bail. Emerick said Fadel intended to plead not guilty to charges that he and an unidentified second man followed Walker from club to club before enticing him into their vehicle and robbing him.

Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo set bail at $73,000 and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 16 on four felony charges: first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, and battery causing substantial bodily harm. A kidnapping conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

The 30-year-old Fadel, of Las Vegas, told another judge Wednesday that he couldn't raise $13,000 bail in a separate kidnapping and domestic battery case.

Las Vegas police say Fadel has not cooperated with investigators who are seeking another man shown in surveillance videotapes with Fadel shadowing Walker at nightclubs late June 15.

Police say the 29-year-old Walker "willingly" got into a vehicle with Fadel and the other man in a valet area at the posh Bellagio resort about dawn June 16. Walker, who a police lieutenant characterized as intoxicated, was found robbed, beaten and unconscious a little more than an hour later.

Walker sustained broken bones in his jaw and around his right eye, and a concussion, according to a police report submitted to the court. Police said $3,000 in cash, at least two $1,000 gambling chips, two credit cards, and a watch, diamond earrings and necklace worth a combined $100,000 were taken. The items have not been recovered.

The police report details Walker's visit to the Body English nightclub, where he was photographed spraying champagne into the crowd, and a brief a foray to the Hard Rock casino where police say he won $1,600 playing blackjack before he went to the Dorm Days after-hours club at the Hard Rock.

Walker arrived back at the Bellagio in a car with a female friend before police said he got into a black Range Rover with Fadel and the other suspect about 6 a.m.

Walker later told police he never met the men before.

Walker called his female friend once, and said he was at Drai's, an after-hours nightclub at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon on the Strip. Walker was found unconscious shortly after 7 a.m. several blocks away.

The Range Rover was seen on surveillance videotapes at the Bellagio and at Drai's, police said. It was traced to Fadel's girlfriend, Alicia Granstedt, 32, of Los Gatos, Calif., and was found near an extended-stay motel near the Strip.