Local briefs for August 6, 1999

Friday, Aug. 6, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Agents capture escaped inmate

A team of local law enforcement agents arrested an inmate Thursday who escaped from Indian Springs boot camp in April.

Acting on a tip, the team observed Josef Todd Keys, 21, who was serving time for possession of stolen credit cards, getting into his girlfriend's car in the 2600 block of Alicia Lynn Way.

Police chased the car to the 4400 block of Vegas Valley Drive where the vehicle was blocked. Keys fled on foot but was eventually captured, police said. Police say they recovered a stolen .25-caliber handgun at the home of Keys' girlfriend.

Pair of officers injured in chase

Two Metro Police officers were hospitalized this morning after sustaining minor injuries while pursuing a suspected reckless driver.

Two Metro patrol officers attempted to pull over the driver of a stolen Pontiac Trans Am shortly before 4 a.m. after he was spotted driving recklessly in the area of Lake Mead and Rainbow boulevards, said Lt. Candy Byrd. The driver refused to pull over and led the two officers on a high-speed chase to a residential area near Comstock Drive and Carey Avenue, Byrd said.

Police said the suspect turned off his headlights in an attempt to elude the officers, turned and came back and rammed one of the officer's cars, causing the airbag to deploy, which injured the officer's wrist. Both officers continued chasing the suspect to the area of Smoke Ranch Road and Torrey Pines Drive, where the suspect's car developed a flat tire and finally came to a rest after hitting a car parked in the driveway of a home, Byrd said.

A second officer injured his knee while trying to detain the suspect. Both officers and the suspect, who complained of neck and chest pain, were taken to University Medical Center.

California inmate a Nevada con

An inmate who was free for 11 years after escaping from the Southern Nevada Correctional Center at Jean has been sentenced by District Judge Donald Mosely to three years in prison.

Joseph C. Mancini, 51, hid inside a prison delivery truck on March 19, 1987, and disappeared. He was discovered through a fingerprint checking system in July 1998 serving time in a California prison for car theft and assault. At the time he used the name of Richard Lob.

Mancini will be returned to California to complete his sentences and then sent back to Nevada to complete his terms, including the three years for the escape charge.

Dental work leads to probation

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure Thursday placed Gerardo C. Rodriguez, 25, on 18 months probation for trying to defraud an insurance company in getting dental work.

Rodriguez also must pay Dr. Cal Dykes $1,916 in restitution and complete 150 hours of community service.

Floria Schilling, a girlfriend of Rodriguez, worked as the office manager for Dykes. She telephoned Rodriguez when a scheduled patient canceled his appointment. Rodriguez slipped in, got the treatment in November 1997, and the bill was sent to the Nevada Pacific Dental Insurance Co., which had a policy covering the first patient.

Part of Boulder Highway to reopen

A section of flood-damaged Boulder Highway was to reopen for limited use around noon today, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The southbound section between U.S. 95 and Sahara Avenue will have three lanes open while the northbound section will have two lanes available between 2 p.m. and 5 a.m. and one lane open between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Claimants warned against fraud

Disaster relief funds are now reaching the valley's flood victims, and emergency agencies want to make sure that the money is only going to those with a need.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Nevada Division of Emergency Management are working together to make sure there are no fraudulent relief requests.

Anyone with knowledge of disaster fund fraud may call FEMA's office of the inspector general at (800) 323-8603.

Woman pleads guilty to charges

A Las Vegas woman has admitted she was responsible for the Feb. 3 collision that killed one man and seriously injured another.

Renel Kimberly Cordero pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of reckless driving and a misdemeanor count of drunken driving in the incident at Pecos-McLeod near Desert Inn Road.

She faces the possibility of up to six years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 28 by District Judge Jeff Sobel, although prosecutors are not opposing probation.

Leo Mallonee was killed and Howard Williams seriously injured when Cordero's speeding Chevrolet ran into Mallonee's car.