Deaths mar holiday

Friday, Jan. 2, 1998 | 11:15 a.m.

The year was less than a day old and already Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson had their first fatal accidents.

All were single-death accidents -- two occurred before sunrise and one after sundown on Thursday. Also, seven others were injured:

* Salman Siddiqui, 27, of Las Vegas, was killed around 4:30 a.m. when a fast-moving car with no headlights on slammed into the left side of his 1989 Honda at Harmon Avenue west of Paradise Road, in Metro Police's jurisdiction. A passenger in Siddiqui's car and the driver of the other car were treated at University Medical Center.

* Theresa Lynn Schroeder, 18, of North Las Vegas, was killed shortly before 6:30 p.m. when her 1979 Chevrolet pickup struck a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am at Camino Al Norte and Rancho Del Norte in North Las Vegas. The driver and three others in the car were taken to UMC with what police described as minor injuries.

* A man was killed around 2 a.m. when a vehicle in which he was a passenger crashed into a light pole while traveling westbound on Warm Springs Road in Henderson after straying from the travel lane. The man, whose name is being held pending notification of relatives, died at the scene. A woman who was driving the car was taken to UMC and was listed in stable condition.

Still, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were relatively quiet, with smaller crowds of revelers than expected. More than 300,000 visitors and locals were predicted to be on the Strip, but only about 200,000 showed up, officials said.

The Nevada Highway Patrol closed the Strip at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and reopened it at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. Fist fights were reported, as well as several palm tree fires.

The total number of arrests made by Metro Police was not immediately available.

However, between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday, Metro made 32 drunken driving arrests -- 27 of them after midnight. Police officials said that was about double the normal number for a New Year's holiday.

The NHP, which had 60 troopers assigned to the Strip and surrounding areas, responded to 16 traffic accidents and arrested five people on charges of drunken driving.

The traffic accident that killed Siddiqui is believed to have involved alcohol on the part of the driver of the other car, a 1992 Dodge Dynasty, police said.

Siddiqui left the parking lot of the St. Tropez Hotel and was headed east on Harmon when his car was struck at 4:37 a.m. by the car driven Sergio Navarro, 21, of North Las Vegas, police said.

Witnesses told police that Navarro's car was traveling faster than the 35 mph speed limit and had no lights on. The impact caused Navarro's car to travel into the hotel parking lot, where it struck a parked vehicle, police said.

Siddiqui died at the scene.

The accident that took the life of Schroeder also injured the driver of the other vehicle, William Roun, 30, and his passengers, Tommy Langford, 52, a 5-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, North Las Vegas police said.

The car pulled away from a stop sign westbound when the northbound pickup struck the driver's side door, police said, noting Schroeder died at the scene.

Alcohol is believe to have been a contributing factor in the accident, police said.