State probes insurance claim by councilman

Keith Paul and Adrienne Packer

Friday, March 31, 2000 | 11:22 a.m.

The state attorney general's office is investigating an insurance claim filed by North Las Vegas City Councilman John K. Rhodes after a burglary at his house in 1998.

Rhodes confirmed Thursday that the attorney general contacted his lawyer and is looking into the claim, but said he is unaware of the details surrounding the investigation.

"I'm confident we'll work this out" with no charges being filed, said Rhodes, who is expected to run against Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates in November. "You would only be angry if you have something to hide."

Steve George, a spokesman with the attorney general's office, refused to confirm or deny whether his office is investigating Rhodes' claim.

Rhodes, however, said attorney general investigators questioned two friends -- including a former girlfriend -- about the 1998 burglary and the subsequent homeowner's insurance claim. Rhodes' lawyer, Theodore Parker, could not be reached for comment today or Thursday.

The 35-year-old two-term city councilman said burglars broke into his East Diana Drive home in September 1998, stripping him not only of computer equipment and a television, but even his sofa, washer and dryer -- "everything but the bed."

Three months into State Farm's investigation, Rhodes dropped his $4,000 to $5,000 insurance claim. He said the probe was too lengthy and that investigators were intimidating his friends and were accusatory toward him.

In the time it took for State Farm to investigate the claim, Rhodes said he was able to refurnish his home on his own.

"I decided if I work hard enough, I can recoup that," said Rhodes, who makes $18,500 as a North Las Vegas city councilman and does consulting work on the side. "I decided to drop the claim, and I did."

The attorney general's office requested Rhodes' file from State Farm insurance last month, said Gus Miranda, a spokesman for the insurance firm's regional office in Phoenix.

Attorney general investigators have not contacted North Las Vegas Police detectives about the burglaries or sought police files about the cases, said Lt. Chris Larotonda, head of the North Las Vegas Police investigations division.

Miranda declined to discuss details of Rhodes' file, saying that although the councilman is no longer a State Farm policyholder, the information must be kept confidential in case the investigation leads to a grand jury hearing.

The 1998 insurance claim was the third Rhodes has filed in connection with reported break-ins at his North Las Vegas house.

He also filed claims in January 1993 and April 1997. Rhodes said his house was broken into two other times, including March 1997 when he lost a washer, dryer and a lawn mower.

The most recent break-in was last week, when he said a burglar bent back the window bars he had installed and stole computer equipment.

Rhodes said he made improvements to the home's security, including a burglar alarm, but he has no intentions of moving out of the troubled Dianna Terrace neighborhood.

"I'm sending a strong message by being the only council member living in the southside of the community," Rhodes said. "I'll send a stronger message if I stay because I have watched a lot of my neighbors move out."