Ammar Harris, Las Vegas shooting suspect arrested in L.A.

LAS VEGAS — Police say a felon sought in a shooting and crash that killed three people on the Las Vegas Strip is in custody in the Los Angeles area.

Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones says Ammar Harris was arrested Thursday by a team of police and federal agents in North Hollywood.

The 26-year-old is a self-described pimp who was the subject of a multi-state manhunt following the Feb. 21 gunfire and chain-reaction crash that killed three and injured at least five.

Police say he fired at least five shots into a Maserati sports car, killing a self-promoted rapper who he argued with earlier in the valet area of a Las Vegas Strip resort.

The Maserati slammed into a taxi, killing the driver and a businesswoman from Washington state.

A week after a shooting and spectacular fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip, police said Thursday they have found and talked with all three women who were in an SUV with driver and accused shooter Ammar Harris.

Harris, 26, a felon and self-described pimp whose Internet posts show him with fists full of money and boast of a high-rolling lifestyle with prostitutes, had been the subject of a multi-state manhunt following the Feb. 21 gunfire and chain-reaction crash that left three people dead and at least five people injured.

Late Wednesday, police found SUV passenger Tineesha Lashun Howard in another state, and Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones said for the first time that police previously found and interviewed two other women who were with Howard in Harris’ black Range Rover SUV during the shooting.

The gunfire killed a self-prompted rapper driving a Maserati, and the sports car slammed into a taxi that burst into flames, killing the driver and passenger.

Jones wouldn’t release the names of the other passengers in Harris’ SUV, but said none had been charged with a crime. Police are concerned about their safety, the police captain said.

“There is no other person wanted in this case other than Harris,” Jones said. “No one else faces charges.”

Howard, a 22-year-old from Miami with a history of prostitution arrests, also uses the names Yenesis Alfonzo or Yani. She was identified by police on Tuesday as a person of interest in the case who might have been in danger. Jones wouldn’t say Thursday where she was found.

Las Vegas police also sought Thursday to stop the circulation of several photos the department issued Tuesday and Wednesday in the search for Harris. Police said they depict people other than Howard.

Harris was arrested last year in Las Vegas in a 2010 prostitution case using the name Ammar Asim Faruq Harris. He was charged with robbery, sexual assault, kidnapping and coercion with a weapon, and police sought charges of pandering by force and felon in possession of concealed weapon. Court records show that case was dismissed last June.

Harris was convicted in South Carolina in 2004 of felony possession with intent to sell a stolen pistol and convicted that same year in Atlanta of a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.