Las Vegas news briefs

Monday, May 3, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

Metro Police have no motive or suspects in the Friday night shooting death of a 35-year-old Las Vegas resident at a Sahara Avenue bar.

A man identified as Dean Robin McCoy was found dead in the front door of the bar in the 500 block of East Sahara, police said.

Witnesses said that the man had been in the parking lot when they heard two gunshots. McCoy then stumbled back inside the bar and collapsed, police said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or Metro's homicide section at 229-3521.

Passenger killed as SUV crashes

A passenger in a car that went out of control and rolled several times was killed early this morning.

Metro Police said the 23-year-old Las Vegas resident was riding in the back seat of a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder when he was thrown from the vehicle.

The identity of the victim is being withheld until family members can be notified.

Police said the accident happened shortly after 1 a.m. on Rainbow Boulevard north of Windmill Lane.

The vehicle, operated by Scott Walkins, 23, also of Las Vegas, was northbound on Rainbow when the tires on the right side drifted off the edge of the road.

Police said Walkins returned to the roadway, crossed left of the center and then over-corrected and went off the roadway into the desert on the east side of the road.

The vehicle rolled several times.

Police said Walkins and a second passenger, Jason Arbogast, 21, received minor injuries.

Police said alcohol and excessive speed appear to be contributing factors in the accident.

The accident is still under investigation.

LV area tops list in national study

The Las Vegas area has been named the most livable big city in America by a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study.

According to Howard J. Wall, who authored the study, Las Vegas beat number 2 Atlanta by two points.

Wall developed a "rational index" ranking 59 metropolitan areas whose population exceeds 1 million people by the area's livability.

Livability was based on the number of people who move and stay there.

The study is available at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis website (www.stls.frb.org).

Inmate found guilty in fiery attack

A man serving time in the Nevada State Penitentiary for armed robbery was found guilty last week of arson and attempted murder in connection with a Nov. 24, 1997, fire.

Soloman Miquel Staten, 24, will be sentenced at a later date.

Las Vegas fire investigators alleged that Staten argued with the occupant of a garage apartment at 1005 Bridger Ave. and returned later that night and set the building on fire.

The fire led to $20,000 in damages. No one was injured.

Investigators said Staten threw a Molotov cocktail into the apartment when he was sure the occupant would be home.

Blaze called arson; two arrested

A fire that led to $200,000 in damage to two apartments on Saturday has been ruled arson by Clark County Fire Department investigators.

Lisa Vanalst, 31, and Carlton Francis, 36, have been charged with first-degree arson in the fire that damaged two apartments at 1100 Dumont St., near Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway.

Investigators found materials they believe were used to produce methamphetamine in the apartment, pokesman Bob Leinbach said.

The couple are also charged with attempted murder and child endangerment because Vanalst's two small children were in the apartment at the time of the fire.

Inmate found in Salt Lake City

An inmate missing from the Indian Springs Conservation Camp since April 26 was arrested in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Ramon Daniels, 23, had walked away from the camp at about 10:15 p.m. on April 26.

Daniels began serving his four-year sentence for robbery at Indian Springs in August of 1997.

Bank robbery lands 14-time felon 20 years

A 14-time felon was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 1996 robbery of a Bank of America branch at Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard.

Morris Hunter Jr., 37, was convicted in January for the September 1996 robbery. Hunter was seen running from the bank by a Henderson resident, who called the police. Minutes later Hunter was in custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leif Reid prosecuted the case against Hunter and was at Friday's sentencing.

"Since Morris Hunter turned 18 years old, he has spent no more than seven or eight months out of the Nevada State Prison system," Reid said. "The FBI and Metro worked hard to keep a lifetime criminal off the streets and unable to strike again."

Mobile home park emptied after bank hit

Metro Police are looking for three people who robbed a bank Saturday that resulted in the SWAT team being called to a mobile home park off Cheyenne Avenue and Lamb Boulevard.

Two men and a woman robbed the Bank of America branch at Cheyenne and Las Vegas Boulevard using a rifle about 4:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The three people left the bank in a yellow Chevrolet Nova. A witness outside the bank followed the car to the park at 4527 Amargosa St. and called police.

Thinking that the three people could be hiding in one of the mobile homes, police evacuated the park and SWAT was called in. SWAT found no trace of the three people.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call Metro's robbery detail at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

State rules against firm in Lincoln County

The Nevada Environmental Commission has upheld a violation against Western Elite Inc. for operating an illegal dump in Lincoln County.

After the decision, Western Elite President Ryan Williams said he intends to pursue the case in court. He operates a 40-acre site where construction debris was delivered, ground into piles and stocked in rural Lincoln County since 1996.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection issued a citation against the company last year, claiming the site exceeded the storage inventory. The complaint also said the company failed to control litter and the debris posed a threat to environmental and public health.