Court briefs

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

Suspect faces charges in slot robberies

A 22-year-old Las Vegas man facing 34 felony charges in 11 supermarket robberies that targeted slot machine change clerks has agreed to a plea bargain that will put him in prison for a minimum of eight years.

Charles Centore, 22, waived his preliminary hearing this week in Justice of the Peace Doug Smith's courtroom as the first step in the plea bargain and will be arraigned Sept. 15 in District Court.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks said Thursday that Centore has agreed to plead guilty to three charges of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, with an eight-year minimum sentence as part of the deal.

Centore was arrested Aug. 20 after the botched robbery of a clerk at the Vons supermarket at 475 E. Windmill Ave. Police spotted Centore at a bar near Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue and arrested him after a short foot pursuit.

Killer given two more life sentences

Chief District Judge Lee Gates was asked to give Brian Keith Robinson a break at his sentencing on a second-degree murder conviction for the shooting death of a teenager in November 1996.

Robinson's underprivileged upbringing on the streets of Compton, Calif., was cited as the reason for leniency for the man who still has two murder charges pending.

"I can't give him a break because too many people died," Gates responded Thursday before sentencing Robinson to two life prison terms with parole possible after he has served 20 years. That sentence will run consecutive to the current sentence he is serving of life in prison with no possibility of parole for another murder.

His latest conviction involved the shooting death of Jermaine McKines at the Cheyenne Condominiums, 3301 Civic Center Drive.

North Las Vegas Police have labeled the 21-year-old defendant a serial killer over four killings during a three-month period in 1996.

Judge changes ruling on killer's freedom

District Judge Jeffrey Sobel has reversed his decision permitting an admitted killer to stay free on bail and spend Christmas with his family before his January sentencing.

Sobel on Thursday ordered 33-year-old David Wayne Crawford back to jail so he won't have a chance to flee before the sentencing, since the lightest possible sentence would still require him to serve the next 40 years behind bars before eligibility for parole.

Crawford was free on $360,000 bail posted by his aging parents.

Defense attorney Scott Bindrup accused the judge of bending to media pressure, sending Sobel into an angry outburst of denial.

The judge said he couldn't live with his conscience if anything had happened before Crawford's surrender and pointed to the recent case of a jail escapee who killed his wife and two children before committing suicide as police closed in on him.

Crawford admitted in his guilty plea last month that he shot and killed 26-year-old Gloria Joann Dugan in her southeast Las Vegas home in April 1997.

Man claims cops violated his rights

A Las Vegas man and his mother have filed a federal lawsuit against Metro Police, alleging civil rights violations.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Kerry Bell was accosted by Metro Officers Eric Stout and Warren Gray while singing in front of his house with fellow band members.

The officers forced their way into Bell's Rising Legend Way home and conducted an unlawful search after forcing him to turn off his radio, the lawsuit states.

Bell also claims that Gray choked him and then shoved his mother, Esther Young, into a wall when she attempted to call 911, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that when Bell ran outside in fear, Stout hit him in the back with a flashlight and Gray threw him to the ground where other officers sprayed him with tear gas.