News briefs

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 10:40 a.m.

Gunman storms cage at Santa Fe

Three masked gunmen stormed into the Santa Fe hotel-casino early this morning and robbed the casino cashier's cage of an undisclosed amount of cash.

A fourth man standing nearby may have been involved in the 1:55 a.m. robbery in the casino at 4949 N. Rancho Drive, Metro Police said.

The robbers jumped over the counter at the cage and took the cash before fleeing in a car. The car was found a few blocks away, and police determined it had been stolen earlier in the night, Lt. John Alamshaw of Metro's robbery unit said.

Detectives have looked at the casino's security camera tapes to try to identify the robbers, police said.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Metro's robbery unit at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

No murder charge will be pursued

Prosecutors have concluded that the shotgun slaying of a 21-year-old Las Vegas man was inadvertent and have offered to reduce the charges against the victim's roommate.

Instead of facing a murder charge, 18-year-old Brandon Von Bellamy now is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge if he pleads guilty.

Bellamy on Wednesday agreed to do that and waived his preliminary hearing in Justice Court. The teenager is scheduled to enter his plea on March 1 in District Judge Kathy Hardcastle's courtroom. The maximum penalty he will face is 2 to 6 years in prison, although probation is possible.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich said a police investigation found Bellamy believed his shotgun was empty as he played with the weapon in the presence of his roommate. The resulting shot killed the roommate at the Warren Motel Apartments on the south end of the Strip, she said.

Identity of man shot to death revealed

A Las Vegas man found shot to death Monday in North Las Vegas has been identified as 55-year-old James Clark.

Clark was found dead in front of an apartment complex at 3301 Civic Center Drive about 1:55 a.m. Monday.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call North Las Vegas Police at 633-9111 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Teens believed victims of Gallego

Nearly 21 years after they disappeared from a Reno fairground, the remains of two missing Sparks teens -- suspected victims of a convicted sex-slave killer -- have been positively identified.

The skeletal remains of Brenda Lynne Judd, 14, and Sandra Kaye Colley, 13, were discovered just three months ago, when a property owner found them in a shallow grave off U.S. 395 north of Reno.

Judd and Colley disappeared in Reno during an evening out at the Washoe County Fair in June 1979.

Convicted sex-slave killer Gerald Gallego, who faces execution in both Nevada and California for four other killings, was implicated in the girls' deaths by his common-law wife, Charlene Williams.

Danger seen at Mount Charleston

Recent snowfall in the Spring Mountains has resulted in extreme avalanche danger, and back-country travel should be avoided, U.S. Forest Service officials announced early today.

Widespread areas of unstable snow exist in the undeveloped areas of Lee and Kyle canyons at Mount Charleston, and avalanches are certain on some of the open slopes and gullies, officials said. The warning does not apply to Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort.

The Forest Service's Las Vegas office is not equipped to monitor daily avalanche activity, and warnings are issued for 24-hour periods. For more information, call 873-8800.

Two men plead guilty in airline case

Two men face up to a year in prison for verbally assaulting two America West flight attendants on an October flight.

John Carlucci, 25, and Brian Scalcione, 26, both of Queens, N.Y., entered guilty pleas Feb. 8 in U.S. District Court in Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Jackie Williams.

Their arrest stems from an incident Oct. 21 when they were returning to New York from Las Vegas. After a brief layover in Phoenix, Carlucci and Scalcione, who admitted they had been drinking, clashed with the flight crew, the attorney said.