Las Vegas news briefs

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 12:03 p.m.

According to a criminal indictment filed by the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, Hai Pia Nguyen, 23, committed fraud by making misrepresentations to investors in his company, Environmental Solutions Enterprise.

Nguyen told prospective investors they would get a monthly return of 10 percent over six months, but except for a small number of investors, the return never came, said a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

Securities fraud carries a possible sentence of up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Nguyen, who has already agreed to pay $30,000 in restitution to his victims, is scheduled to be sentenced in Clark County District Court Dept. 6 on Jan. 13.

MOTORCYCLE CRASH -- Two people who were killed in a Monday night accident have been identified as a married Las Vegas couple.

Shane Bates, 23, and Amber Bates, 24, died after a woman, who police believe was under the influence of alcohol, crashed her car into the couple's motorcycle on Durango Road near Eldora Street at about 10 p.m. Monday.

Nancy Oheron, 31, was heading north on Durango Drive and tried to pass another car at high speeds when she lost control of her BMW and slid into the southbound lane and into the motorcycle, Metro Police said.

The momentum pushed both the car and the motorcycle into a southbound C.A.T. bus that was being used to train drivers. The force of the crash threw the couple from the motorcycle, police said.

Shane Bates died from his injuries at the scene, while Amber Bates died just after arriving at University Medical Center. Oheron was treated and released at UMC. No one on the bus was injured.

Police said it appeared Oheron's speed and the amount of alcohol that she had to drink were a factor.

AUTOPSY -- An autopsy has determined that the man whose body was found in the desert by a construction worker Monday morning died from multiple gunshot wounds in his chest.

The victim, who was found in a desert area near where Las Vegas Boulevard South meets Lake Mead Drive, has been identified as a black man in his late 30s.

He was about 5-feet-6, weighed 135 pounds and had a full beard and a mustache. He was wearing a dark gray sweater, black Levi jeans, black suede hiking boots and a distinctive ring with numerous clear stones on its face, Metro police said.

Anyone with information about the identity of the victim or this crime is urged to call Metro's Homicide section at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

WINTER PATROL -- As the nights get colder and wood-burning fireplaces blaze with warmth, Clark County's winter air pollution problems may bring a health official with a warning to homeowners' doors.

The Clark County District Health Board is considering a pilot program to send air pollution control inspectors into the night, when cooler air traps carbon monoxide and particles in the valley, to deliver written warnings to fireplace polluters.

Michael Naylor, director of the Health District's Air Pollution Control Division, said there will be no penalties this year. Health officials and the board would consider a permanent program next year.

NEVADA WEEK IN REVIEW -- Three Clark County Commissioners and one commissioner-elect will appear on the Nevada Week in Review television show Friday to discuss the future of the board.

Bruce Woodbury, who will probably take over as chairman of the commission, Erin Kenny, Myrna Williams and newcomer Dario Herrera will talk with Channel 10 host Mitch Fox during the 8 p.m. call-in show.

Among the topics the panel intends to address are Las Vegas Sands Inc. chairman Sheldon Adelson's attempt to unseat the incumbents and growth issues facing the county. The call-in number is 799-5180. The show will be rebroadcast at 11 a.m. Sunday.