Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.
Suspect turns himself in
Metro Police arrested Harvin Guerra, 18, Thursday in connection with the killing of a Las Vegas teen, who was found shot to death Sunday night in southeast Las Vegas.
An attorney contacted homicide detectives and arranged for Guerra to turn himself in Thursday, Sgt. Rocky Alby said.
Guerra was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one count of murder with a deadly weapon.
Leodanis Escobar, 17, was found shot at least once in the head in the 3400 block of Mountain Vista Street about 6:40 p.m. Sunday. The teen was taken to University Medical Center and died a little over three hours later.
Woman dies after collision
A Las Vegas man was charged with manslaughter Thursday after a woman critically injured in a Tuesday traffic accident died at University Medical Center.
John Sandoval, 22, is also charged with felony hit and run, reckless driving and evading police in connection with the accident at the intersection of 14th Street and Stewart Avenue.
Metro Police tried to pull over the car Sandoval was driving, but, police say, he refused to stop, causing police to break off the pursuit. Sandoval reportedly continued to drive erratically and failed to stop at the intersection of 14th Street and Stewart, crashing into a sport utility vehicle driven by 53-year-old Mary Thompson.
Thompson was taken to UMC where she died from her injuries at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Fire at Plaza put out quickly
A fire in a trash chute at the Plaza hotel-casino was extinguished quickly Thursday, but smoke forced the evacuation of 500 guests, gamblers and workers for about two hours.
The fire started at about 11 a.m. on the first floor of the 21-story hotel at Main and Fremont streets. Firefighters put out the fire in minutes, but smoke filled the casino and drifted up into the hotel rooms, Las Vegas Fire Department Deputy Chief Ken Riddle said.
Four people were treated at local hospitals for smoke inhalation, fire officials said.
The hotel reopened about two hours later.
Former candidate to stay in prison
Perennial political candidate Hilary M. Milko, convicted in Las Vegas of burglary and a violation of a custody order, has lost his first attempt at release from the Southern Desert Correctional Center.
The state Parole Board said Thursday it turned down the application of Milko, who is serving a term of 16 to 72 months in prison. The denial was issued in July and Milko won't be eligible to appear again before the board until April next year.
Milko has run for president, governor, Congress and mayor of Las Vegas. He was convicted of trying to take his 3-year-old son from the North Las Vegas home of his former girlfriend, despite a court order.
The Nevada Supreme Court in May denied his appeal of the conviction.
Deadline nears for Sept. 5 primary
Saturday is the final day to register to vote in the Sept. 5 primary elections.
To register call the Clark County Election Department at 455-8683 or visit the County Government Center or a local city clerk's office. Registration teams will also be set up at the Las Vegas Valley's major malls on Saturday.
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 from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3 for the Nov. 7 general election.
Trial set in wounding of officer
Two men suspected of taking part in a restaurant robbery that resulted in a Metro Police officer losing his eye will be tried next month.
District Judge Donald Mosley set the trial of Markus Weatherspoon and Darnell Graham Harris for Sept. 25 after they pleaded not guilty to numerous charges stemming from the June 14 incident and a subsequent kidnapping.
The pair, who are being held on $1 million bail each, evoked their right to a speedy trial at the Thursday hearing.
An indictment charges that the pair conspired with other, unknown, people to rob the Macayo Vegas restaurant, 4457 W. Charleston Blvd., and in the process of robbing the restaurant held at least two people at gunpoint.
After leaving the restaurant, according to the indictment, they shot Officer Pete Rossi's vehicle twice, striking his front driver's side bumper and his windshield. One of the bullets hit Rossi, 26, in the face, causing him to lose his left eye.
According to the indictment and police, after ditching their getaway vehicle, Weatherspoon and Harris forced a woman walking out of a nearby restaurant into her Chevrolet Blazer and drove away. She was later released near Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road.
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