Local news briefs for August 2, 2000

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

Two hurt after suspect flees

A driver who fled from police crashed into a sport utility vehicle Tuesday afternoon injuring two people, one critically.

Metro Police tried to pull over a car driven by John Sandoval, 22, of Las Vegas, about 5 p.m. on Fremont Street, but police say Sandoval fled. The officer stopped the pursuit because of heavy traffic in the area, police said.

Sandoval continued to drive fast and erratically north on 14th Street, police said, and failed to stop at the intersection of 14th Street and Stewart Avenue. His car then crashed into a sport utility vehicle, police said.

The driver of the SUV, Mary Thompson, 53, of Las Vegas, was in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning. Her passenger, 13-year-old Candice Dunbar, was treated at the hospital and released Tuesday, hospital officials said.

Sandoval suffered minor injures and was treated at the scene. He was booked into the Clark County jail on felony reckless driving and felony evading police charges.

Man sentenced in money laundering

A former Las Vegas man who spent nearly a decade as a fugitive before his arrest in Pennsylvania last year during a traffic stop has been sentenced to prison.

Leon Odzer, also known as Arye Dynar, was sentenced to 21 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lloyd George Tuesday. Odzer had pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to launder money.

Odzer was indicted in 1990 in Las Vegas after he described to an undercover federal officer a plan to launder large amounts of money from the sale of drugs through banks in Canada.

He was arrested in October near Middletown, a suburb of Philadelphia, after being stopped by a state trooper for a minor traffic infraction.

Support payments are made easier

CARSON CITY -- Employers who are required to withhold child support from the wages of their workers will now be able to send the payments to one location, the state Welfare Division said Tuesday.

A 1996 federal law required a central location be established to collect and disburse child support payments in cases receiving services from local district attorneys or the state child support offices.

"The end result will be quicker payments to families receiving child support," state Welfare Administrator Michael Willden said.

Effective Tuesday all noncustodial parents making child support payments to a Nevada child support enforcement agency and all employers withholding child support must mail the payments to the Nevada State Collection and Disbursement Unit, Post Office Box 98950, Las Vegas, Nev., 89193-8950.

Money sought to end crisis

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., called Tuesday for federal money to help combat a nursing home bankruptcy crisis in Nevada.

Nevada has the second-highest rate of bankrupt nursing facilities at 46.8 percent, just behind New Mexico's 46.9 percent, Berkley said. Berkley's district, which encompasses most of Southern Nevada, has the highest bankruptcy rate in the nation at 81.8 percent.

Berkley spoke about the problem at the Plaza Regency, 6201 W. Cheyenne Ave., presenting a letter that will be sent to the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Besides more federal resources, the letter calls for the revision of the skilled nursing inflation index to reflect changes in the cost of providing care and an investigation to ensure that the cost of providing care to Medicare beneficiaries is accurately reimbursed.

End approaches for voter registration

Saturday is the final day for Clark County voters to register for the Sept. 1 primary elections.

To register call the county election department at 455-8683, or visit the county government center or a local clerk's office. Registration teams will also be set up at the major malls in the area Saturday for last- minute registrations.

Election department officials say that voting should be more convenient this year with the addition of hundreds of new voting machines and dozens of new early voting sites.

Early voting runs from Aug. 19 to Sept. 1 for the primary election, and will be Oct. 21 to Nov. 3 for the Nov. 7 general election.

Accused man dies of fire injuries

RENO -- A Reno man suspected of killing his wife by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire has died in a Las Vegas burn hospital, authorities said.

Deputy Reno Police Chief Jim Weston said Burton Caster died Tuesday in the University Medical Center burn unit.

Caster, 41, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body from the July 12 fire and explosion that killed his wife, Nancy.

Police found the woman's charred body on a bed. They said someone had soaked her in gasoline and lit the fire.