Local news briefs for July 21, 2000

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Victim identified as Las Vegas man

Mohave County (Ariz.) Sheriff's detectives have identified the man who jumped off Hoover Dam Monday night in an apparent suicide as 34-year-old Michael John Keahey of Las Vegas.

Witnesses told police a man jumped over the wall at the top of the dam and plummeted several hundred feet to the concrete roof of the power station about 6:30 p.m.

A vehicle believed to be Keahey's was found in a parking lot on the Arizona side of the dam, but no identification was on the body, police said. Police used fingerprints to determine Keahey's identity.

The Mohave County coroner's office is waiting on toxicology test results.

A similar incident occurred in June when a man killed himself by jumping from the dam, police said.

Police searching for 18-year-old

North Las Vegas Police are searching for an 18-year-old man in connection with the slaying of a teenager two weeks ago.

Police say they have the probable cause necessary to arrest Vernon Craft in connection with the July 7 shooting death of 19-year-old Derrick Mitchell of North Las Vegas.

Officers were called to the 2500 block of West Street about 12:45 a.m. on July 7 for the report of shots being fired. They found Mitchell in the parking lot, dead from several gunshot wounds.

Police said that several witnesses implicated Craft in the slaying of Mitchell.

Anyone with information on Craft's whereabouts is asked to call the North Las Vegas Police at 633-9111 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Description of gunman released

Metro Police are asking for the public's help in locating a man who robbed a Las Vegas Boulevard bar last month.

The man sat down at the bar at 1201 Las Vegas Blvd. South on June 23 and chatting with the bartender, staying long enough to have four beers. He then went into the bar's bathroom and returned five minutes later with a handgun, police said.

Witnesses said the man took money from the register and put it in a duffel bag before leaving the building.

He is described as white, about 30, 6 feet 1 inch tall, 190 pounds, with blond hair, hazel eyes and a goatee.

Police have been getting reports of a man fitting that description in the area of the bar and believe he may work nearby.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call robbery detectives at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

California man enters guilty plea

A 24-year-old Compton, Calif., resident pleaded guilty this morning as part of a plea agreement in a November murder.

Brian Dion Sims admitted that the state has enough evidence to prove that he shot and killed Charles Clark Jr. on Nov. 23, 1999.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks told District Judge Joseph Bonaventure that Clark, 25, was the former boyfriend of Sims' brother's girlfriend.

On the day of the incident, Clark had gone to the East Flamingo Road apartment where the mother of his children lived and words were exchanged among the Sims brothers, Clark and another man.

As Clark tried to leave, Sims went back to the apartment, got a gun and shot Clark as he sat in a car.

Sims is expected to get a 25-year prison sentence on Aug. 24. He will be eligible for parole after 10 years.

More time given in Benson case

Gary Benson, who was freed in September after a 13-month stretch in prison for stalking Las Vegas comedian Jerry Lewis, was back in court Thursday on new charges of aggravated stalking and violating an extended protective order.

The state will seek to categorize Benson as a habitual criminal and send him to prison for life for stalking Lewis, Chief Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver said.

During the preliminary hearing Lewis and two other people testified about Benson, but Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis will postpone deciding if there is enough evidence to send the case to District Court for trial until Sept. 13 in order to allow the attorneys to present and exchange written legal arguments.

More money goes to training

The Nevada Test Site will receive $4.5 million to continue counter-terrorism training, $1 million more than last year's total. The funds were included in a Senate bill passed Thursday.

The counter-terrorism program trains emergency crews from across the nation in how to respond to a terrorist attack.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the bill also includes $1.5 million for Child Haven, a home for displaced children that is operated by Clark County Youth Services.

Also included in the bill is $4.5 million in grants for computers for Clark and Nye counties and $1.1 million for the U.S. Marshals Service in Las Vegas for federal courthouse security.

The Senate bill will go to a joint conference committee after Congress returns from its August recess.