Local news briefs for October 25, 1999

Monday, Oct. 25, 1999 | 10:57 a.m.

Man found in critical condition

A 29-year-old Las Vegas man was in serious condition today at University Medical Center after being shot near 21st Street and Sunrise Avenue in the early morning hours.

Metro Police officers, responding to a call of reported gunfire at about 2:30 this morning, found the man, whose name is being withheld until family members can be notified.

He had a gunshot wound to his chest and was transported to University Medical Center, where he arrived in critical condition.

A witness told police a man left the area on a small silver bicycle. The man on the bicycle is described as an Hispanic man about 5 feet 5 inches tall, 180 pounds with close-cut dark hair. He was wearing a dark blue jacket.

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to call Metro at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Apartment fire forces out family

A Sunday evening fire in a Henderson apartment complex has left a family of four homeless.

At 5:20 p.m. Henderson Fire Department units were sent to the Lakewood Cove Apartments, 1100 Center St., after reports that an apartment was engulfed in flames.

The two-story apartment had been evacuated, and it took firefighters 15 minutes to put the fire out.

Damage to the apartment was estimated at $32,000 and $15,000 to the family's possessions.

The American Red Cross is helping the family find temporary housing.

Man arrested in June killing of woman

Metro Police have arrested a man in connection with the June murder of a 44-year-old woman found dead in a car on the west end of the valley.

On Saturday Michael Jay McCollum, 42, was arrested and charged with the murder of Dana Rae Rasmussen, police said. He had been indicted by a grand jury.

Rasmussen was found strangled to death in a car on Desert Foothills Drive near the west end of Sahara Avenue.

McCollum and Rasmussen had lived together for about nine years, police said.

Police believe McCollum and Rasmussen argued before she died. Police are interested in talking to anyone who may have seen McCollum in the area of Desert Foothills Drive and Sahara in the early morning hours of June 26.

Man improving after park incident

A Las Vegas man remains in critical condition at University Medical Center after he was beaten unconscious on Thursday after arguing with skateboarders over use of a tennis court.

Randy Owens, 49, was in a coma late last week, but UMC officials say he is coming around and doing better.

Owens was playing tennis at Hills Park near Rampart and West Lake Mead boulevards when a group of three or four young people showed up to skateboard on the court, Commander Mike Murphy of the Las Vegas City Marshals Service said.

An argument followed between Owens and a 17-year-old. The argument became physical and Owens was beaten, possibly with a skateboard, Murphy said.

The 17-year-old has been arrested and charged with felony battery with a deadly weapon.

Man charged in fatal stabbing

Metro Police have made an arrest in connection with an early Sunday morning barroom stabbing that killed a 20-year-old man.

Ezekiel Garcia, 52, has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon.

The stabbing took place at a bar in the 1500 block of North Eastern Avenue around 2:30 a.m., police said. The victim, whose name was not released until family members could be notified, had been playing pool with three friends when he got into an argument with Garcia, police said.

The victim was stabbed once in the chest and driven to a house in the 2600 block of Jansen Avenue by his friends, who then called police. He died in the house.

Police find man dead in car

Metro Police found a man shot to death slumped over the wheel of a car early Friday morning near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards.

Police responded to a report of gunfire in the 1400 block of Hassell Avenue and found Troy J. Roberts, 25, of Henderson shot in the chest in a car parked in front of a duplex.

The vehicle was registered to a woman, and police say it did not belong in the area.

Police found no witnesses to the shooting and are searching for a possible motive.

Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call police at 229-3521, or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Suspect arrested in Friday shooting

A man has been charged in the Friday morning shooting death of a 20-year-old man near Tropicana Avenue and Spencer Street.

Ramses Antonio Escobar, 20, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of murder with a deadly weapon, police said.

Police believe that just after 3 a.m. Friday Escobar and Brent L. Reed of Las Vegas got into an argument in the 1600 block of Canterbury Court.

Family able to escape blaze

A Sunday morning fire ripped through a two-story house in northwest Las Vegas endangering three people.

About 4:30 a.m. Las Vegas firefighters arrived at 10144 Pinnacle View Place near Town Center Drive and Summerlin Parkway to find heavy flames shooting from a house's upstairs bedroom.

The owner of the home awakened choking on smoke and was able to wake her teenage son and a house guest and got everyone, including pets, out of the house, department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Man killed when SUV hits pole

Bakari H. Etter, 21, of Carson, Calif., was killed Sunday when the 1999 Oldsmobile sports utility vehicle in which he was riding struck a light pole and a utility pole about 7:20 a.m. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The driver, Damion Rushing, was taken to University Medical Center where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Rushing was arrested and booked on charges of reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter, police said.

Girl, 1, falls into family's pool

A 1-year-old girl died Saturday after falling into her family's pool, Las Vegas fire officials said today.

Georgina Ramirez wandered away from her mother, father and uncle at the family's northwest Las Vegas home on Saturday, Tim Szymanski, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman, said.

After a search of the house ended, the girl's father found her in the bottom of the pool. He retrieved the girl and began administering CPR, Szymanski said.

The child was taken to MountainView Hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. She was later taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where she died.

Girl, 11, escapes possible assault

An 11-year-old Las Vegas girl escaped a kidnapping attempt Sunday afternoon near Rainbow Boulevard and Smoke Ranch Road, Metro Police said.

The girl was coaxed into a stranger's car outside the Oasis Palms Apartments, police said, but when the man began what might have been a sexual assault the girl escaped, Metro Police Sgt. Ralph Hemington said.

The girl described the man as white, 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet 11 inches, 160 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was driving an older-model, tan, four-door car.