Officials say recent incidents in Las Vegas, Reno should not impact tourism

Sunday, Jan. 10, 1999 | 4:42 a.m.

"We want to reinforce that Las Vegas is a safe place, and we have the information and statistics to prove that" said Billy Vassiliadis of R&R Advertising, the ad agency for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The message will be worked into Las Vegas' ongoing marketing campaign, Vassiliadis said.

A car stolen Thursday night from the entourage of Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore crashed into a tractor-trailer on Interstate 15 south of Las Vegas while being pursued by police Friday. The driver of the stolen car, identified by family members as Marcus Stone, 49, of Gouldsboro, Maine, took the vehicle from the terminal of Signature Aviation as Gilmore was arriving in Las Vegas.

Gilmore said he didn't think Virginians would have a negative view of Las Vegas and he doubted the incident would have any effect on tourism. He called the incident unfortunate and said it could have happened anywhere.

The incident occurred just days after a 20-year-old Minnesota drifter was charged with six counts of attempted murder and a variety of other charges in a sniper attack on Interstate 80 outside of Reno.

Christopher Lee Merritt, of Mankato, told authorities he was attempting to kill "for the thrill of it," and that he also had planned to commit a murder in the Las Vegas area. He was arrested northeast of Las Vegas following a routine traffic stop, hours after the Reno shooting rampage.

Rob Powers, spokesman for the LVCVA, called the two incidents tragic, but said they were isolated and would not "have a long-term impact."