LAS VEGAS, Nev. (702 Times, NV Globe) – A man was sentenced Monday to seven to 18 years in state prison for shooting a waiter several times during a bungled after-hours heist at a restaurant in Las Vegas’ Chinatown quarter about a year ago.

Rashawn Gaston-Anderson, 24, said nothing in court. Chengyan Wang, the wounded former waiter, earlier stated that he had been shot more than ten times.

“He tried to murder me,” Wang told the judge.

Gaston-Anderson pled guilty in November to felony mayhem and attempted robbery with a weapon, avoiding trial as part of a plea agreement that might potentially result in the dismissal of three other criminal proceedings against him.

In an email to The Associated Press, his attorney, Michael Troiano, said the punishment was “a just consequence” of talks on “a difficult situation.”

Wang had just recently relocated to Las Vegas from China. He told authorities that he was sweeping the floor in the early hours of December 20, 2021, when he was approached by a shooter who entered the restaurant through an unsecured rear door and demanded money.

Las Vegas police released footage showing a slim guy clad in a hooded jacket, face covering, gloves, and white shorts going through well-lit pathways around the two-story shopping center after the shooting, pleading for public assistance in identifying the shooter.

Gaston-Anderson was detained on December 27th at a mental health institution in the Las Vegas region.

Police said they discovered no indication that the attack on Wang was a hate crime or that the shooter intentionally targeted the Asian community.

Credits: Fox 5 Vegas

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