State attorney general’s office to meet with Rhodes

Adrienne Packer

Monday, April 17, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

The state attorney general's office is scheduled to meet with North Las Vegas Councilman John Rhodes this week to discuss an insurance fraud investigation that dates back to a 1998 home burglary, according to people close to the negotiations.

Rhodes learned he was under investigation late last month, and his attorney, Theodore Parker, received a report from the state office last week. Parker declined to discuss the probe.

"Unfortunately I can't discuss anything about the matter," Parker said. "We're looking at information and still discussing matters with the attorney general's office."

The attorney general's office has also refused to confirm or deny the investigation or whether an indictment is pending.

The probe stems from a 1998 insurance claim filed by Rhodes after his East Diana Drive home was burglarized. The 35-year-old councilman said that while he was away on a business trip burglars stole his sofa, electronics, his computer and even a washing machine and dryer.

Three months into State Farm Insurance's investigation into his claim of losing between $4,000 and $5,000 in property, Rhodes canceled the claim. Rhodes said the insurance claim investigation was taking too long and he believed his friends were being harassed by insurance officials.

State Farm officials also wouldn't discuss Rhodes' claims but said the attorney general's office requested his file last month.

Rhodes said agents with the attorney general's office have interviewed his former girlfriend and other acquaintances about the burglary and subsequent investigation.

The September 1998 incident was the third burglary Rhodes filed with his insurance company. Rhodes claimed his washer and dryer were also stolen during a March 1997 break-in at his North Las Vegas home.

Rhodes, who is challenging Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates for her District D seat, said he has taken security measures since the burglaries but he has no intentions of moving out of his home.

Rhodes has said he wants to live among the homeowners he represents on the North Las Vegas City Council, and if he moved out it would send a negative message to his neighbors.

While he calls his neighborhood a high-crime area of the community, Lt. Chris Larotonda, head of the North Las Vegas investigations division, said the number of crimes in the neighborhood aren't high enough to "raise any flags."

Police have not made any arrests in connection with the burglaries at Rhodes' home and none of his property has been recovered.

Steve George, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, would not speak specifically about Rhodes' case but confirmed that insurance fraud investigations are handled and prosecuted by the attorney general's office.

Generally, he said, they are started when insurance companies are suspicious of a claim or when a citizen calls in a tip.

"We encourage people to call in with information," George said. "Insurance fraud costs each citizen of Nevada $300 a year."

Adrienne Packer covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com.