Local news briefs for August 7, 2000

Monday, Aug. 7, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

Pickups sought in fatal accidents

Metro Police are looking for two vehicles involved in two unrelated fatal hit-and-run accidents over the weekend.

The first occurred Friday about 8:15 p.m. when a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl tried to cross Warm Springs Road outside of a crosswalk, police said.

Ashley C. Hines was hit by a small maroon pickup heading eastbound. The force of the collision sent the girl into the path of another car heading east, which also struck her. The pickup fled the scene, and the teen was taken to University Medical Center, where she later died of her injuries.

About 3:30 a.m. Saturday a 46-year-old Las Vegas man was in his wheelchair in the center turn lane on Twain Avenue when a pickup drifted over and struck him, police said. The man and the wheelchair were pushed along for several feet until the man was thrown from the chair, police said.

The pickup kept going, pushing the wheelchair to Palos Verde Street, where the driver got out and pulled the wheelchair from under the truck and placed it in the bed of the pickup. The 46-year-old man died at the scene. His name was not released this morning pending the notification of his family.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the small maroon pickup or the full-size, dark-colored pickup involved in these accidents is asked to call the accident investigations detail at 229-3535 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Three entrance stations open

The first three entrance stations at Lake Mead National Recreation Area opened today at 8 a.m.

The three stations are located near the park boundaries on Lake Mead Boulevard, Lake Mead Drive and Lakeshore Road, and a fourth station near Katherine Landing is expected to open later this summer.

Bicyclists and motorcyclists will be charged $3 per person for a five-day pass, and all other vehicles will be charged $5 for a five-day pass.

The new entrance stations are part of a fee program authorized by Congress in 1996.

LV man arrested in fraud case

A Las Vegas man has been arrested on 22 counts of fraud in which investors in Cuban cigar and tobacco schemes were allegedly bilked out of close to $150,000.

Secretary of State Dean Heller said Peter Cobo told investors he had inside information that the United States was going to lift its embargo on Cuba and that he had the exclusive rights to sell Cuban cigars in this country and the rights to sell in Canada and South America.

The complaint, filed Friday, said six investors lost more than $65,000 from May 1997 to December 1998. The money was used to pay prior investors and the personal expenses of Cobo and a female employee.

During the same period, Heller said, Cobo conned seven investors out of an additional $84,000, saying he had an agreement with Philip Morris to buy Cuban cigarette tobacco from him. He promised investors a return of up to 600 percent in two months.

Cobo, also known as Miguel Luna, is charged with 18 counts of securities fraud, two counts of theft by obtaining money under false pretenses, one count of racketeering and crimes against a person 65 years and older.

Dorm rooms full at UNR

Dorm rooms at the University of Nevada, Reno are in hot demand this year.

All available campus housing has been spoken for, and there's still about three weeks to go before classes begin, school officials said.

UNR has seven residence halls with capacity for 1,460 students.

Assistant Housing director Dan Dreves said more than 100 students are on a waiting list, and new applications are coming in every day.

To deal with the overflow, officials are considering placing some students at the University Inn until rooms upon up.

They're also trying to help students find off-campus housing.