Carjacking leads to two deaths

Monday, Aug. 16, 1999 | 11:17 a.m.

Police believe a carjacking in a northwest Las Vegas neighborhood resulted in a crash that killed two people and left another in the hospital Friday night.

The coroner's office identified the two dead men this morning as Phillip D. Gastineau, 41, of Las Vegas, and Geremy Michael Butler, 20, of Boulder City.

Police said Gastineau, who was on a motorcycle at the time of the collision, was an innocent victim who was caught in the middle of a carjacking.

Investigators said that about 9:15 p.m. two men approached a driver who had just parked his BMW at his home near Hualapai Way and West Charleston Boulevard, police said.

One of the robbers was armed with a handgun and demanded the car from the victim. The driver struggled with the gunman and wrestled the gun free.

The two men fled in the victim's car, police said.

The coroner's office identified Butler as the driver of the BMW.

The victim fired one shot, hitting Randy Goodrick, 19, in the leg as he sat in the passenger seat of the BMW.

At 9:20 p.m. the BMW was headed east on Charleston and failed to stop for a red light at the Hualapai intersection, witnesses said.

The BMW collided with the northbound motorcycle, killing the rider.

The out-of-control BMW continued eastbound before striking a lightpole on Charleston's raised concrete median. The driver was thrown from the BMW and died at the scene.

Goodrick was taken to University Medical Center where he is being treated for the gunshot wound in the leg and injuries suffered in the accident. He was is in stable condition.

The accident and suspected carjacking are still under investigation, police said.