News briefs

Friday, Feb. 25, 2000 | 11:36 a.m.

SWAT officers arrest man

Metro Police SWAT officers went into a home Thursday to arrest a man, suspected of battery, who had barricaded himself inside.

Robert Harvey, 37, was charged with obstructing a police officer, resisting arrest, battery and being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.

Police went to 5014 Palm Ave., near East Tropicana Avenue and Mountain Vista Street, about 11:40 a.m. Thursday investigating a woman's report that she was the victim of a battery. When officers arrived, the man accused of the battery barricaded himself in the home, police said.

After negotiators were unable to contact the man, SWAT officers entered the house and arrested Harvey without incident, police said.

Husband takes deal in wife's death

A man sobbed in court Thursday as he admitted hitting and kicking his 32-year-old wife on Dec. 18, inflicting fatal injuries.

Ponciano Santarin, 34, had been charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the beating of Venus Santarin in her home at 1913 Rose Coral Ave., near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive.

The plea bargain will require that he serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole. He will be sentenced April 4 by District Judge Sally Loehrer, who only has a choice of deciding whether the maximum term will be 50 years or life behind bars.

Accident ties up Interstate 215

A three-vehicle accident on Interstate 215 this morning backed up traffic for hours, but there were no serious injuries, according the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Two cars and a tractor-trailer were involved in the 6:50 a.m. accident on I-215 westbound near the Interstate 15 northbound ramp. The truck overturned, shutting down all but one of the westbound lanes for about two hours.

All lanes reopened by 9 a.m.

California residents criticize DOE plans

Southern California residents and officials assailed a plan to ship tons of highly radioactive waste through desert communities outside Los Angeles to a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

In hearings run by the U.S. Department of Energy, critics said the government has underestimated the danger of a route that uses railways and Interstate 15 to ship the waste from Southern California.