LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police officers running a records check on a man attempting to urinate on the Las Vegas Strip later learned he was wanted for murder, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Mel Gibson, 52, was wanted on a charge of second-degree murder for the death of Jeffrey Hadlock, 56, documents said.

On Monday, Dec. 12, several people called police, saying a man, later identified as Gibson, had knocked out another man, later identified as Hadlock, on Charleston Boulevard near Decatur Boulevard, police said.

At the hospital, doctors diagnosed Hadlock with a skull fracture and brain bleed, police said. Hadlock told officers he was not punched but “was drunk and fell,” documents said. Because of his admission, officers did not follow up on the event until Hadlock died in the hospital on Jan. 2, they said.

Homicide detectives then reviewed surveillance video from a nearby business, which they said showed Gibson hitting Hadlock in the face. Hadlock then fell backward, hitting his head on the ground, they said.

Police later learned Gibson, who was experiencing homelessness and receiving services from a community organization, had taken a bus to the area prior to the altercation, officers said.

A witness also told police he saw Gibson in January where he said “the guy was talking to him too much” and that he likes “to fight,” officers said.

The Clark County coroner’s office later ruled Hadlock’s cause of death as blunt head trauma. The manner of death was listed as homicide.

On Sunday, Jan. 29, Metro police officers on bike control on the Las Vegas Strip saw a man, identified as Gibson, “undo his pants as if he was [sic] going to urinate in a public place,” police said. As police watched Gibson, he turned his head and stopped, they said.

Officers stopped Gibson for engaging in a lewd act in public for attempting to urinate, they said. A records check conducted on the radio found no warrants for his arrest. Officers then released Gibson.

A second records check later found a warrant out for Gibson’s arrest for second-degree murder. About 20 minutes later, officers found Gibson at a gas station east of the Las Vegas Strip on Paradise Road, they said.

Gibson refused to be brought to court during his arrest warrant return hearing on Tuesday. Judge Rebecca Saxe had set Gibson’s bail at $50,000, records showed.

Gibson was due in court on Thursday for his initial appearance.