Local news briefs for May 30, 2000

Tuesday, May 30, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

String of car arsons examined

Metro Police and Clark County Fire Department officials are investigating a rash of car fires on Lake Mead Boulevard early Sunday morning.

Eleven cars were set on fire Sunday between 4 and 5 a.m. along Lake Mead Boulevard, most between Pecos Road and Lamb Boulevard, Steve La-Sky, Clark County Fire Department spokesman said today.

"Some cars were set on fire simultaneously, and it was like a domino effect," La-Sky said. "Half the cars were totally destroyed and it tied up a lot of our resources."

The car fires appear to be random acts, La-Sky said, and a police investigation is under way.

Teen drowns in Lake Mead

A 17-year-old man died Monday an hour and a half after being pulled from Lake Mead.

Eder A. Medina of North Las Vegas was pulled from the Government Wash about 4:30 p.m. Monday by park rangers, National Park Service spokesman Bert Byers said. Medina's brother, whose name was not released, had first tried unsuccessfully to rescue Medina.

Both men were flown to University Medical Center, where Medina died at 5:52 p.m. The Clark County Coroner's Office has scheduled an autopsy today for Medina.

The condition of Medina's brother was not released.

Autopsy set in slaying

The Clark County coroner's office is scheduled to perform an autopsy today to determine how a man found slain in a Stratosphere hotel-casino room died.

A hotel employee found the man, believed to be a 42-year-old Kentucky resident, dead in his room after he failed to check out, Metro Police homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said. The man's name was not released this morning pending notification of his family.

While the cause of death has not been positively determined, police say the man's death was a homicide. He checked into the hotel on the 20th and was last seen leaving his room on the 26th, Petersen said.

Officials are looking at security videos to determine who went in the man's room, police said.

There is some evidence of a struggle in the room, but the exact cause of death will not be known until the coroner finishes medical examinations, Petersen said.

Anyone with information about the man is asked to call homicide detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Pedestrian dies on freeway

A 66-year-old man died this morning after walking into the path of a van on U.S. 95, Nevada Highway Patrol officials said.

Rubin Romero of New Mexico and his wife were heading home in a pickup when he pulled over on the side of the road by the Wagon Wheel Drive exit, said Trooper Alan Davidson, a highway patrol spokesman.

Romero went over and asked some workers at a warehouse for directions through a fence and then started to cross the highway back to his truck. He stepped in front of a van driven by a Henderson man about 5:15 a.m. and was killed, Davidson said.

Man killed near North Las Vegas

Metro Police are investigating a fatal shooting Monday morning near the city limits of North Las Vegas.

North Las Vegas and Metro Police responded to the area of Hart Avenue and La Salle Street shortly before 1:30 a.m., Sgt. Ken Hefner said.

Police found 36-year-old Cedrick Towner lying in a yard in the 900 block of Hart Avenue, Hefner said.

Anyone with information on the slaying is asked to call homicide detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Prison escapee caught in LV

A prison escapee from Washington was nabbed last week by the local criminal apprehension team.

Stacey Dockins, 25, has been living in Las Vegas since at least the end of last year under the name of James Gaines after escaping from a Washington state prison on April 5, 1999, officials said.

Dockins was arrested Thursday afternoon in an apartment in the 4200 block of West Rochelle Avenue by the Criminal Apprehension Team, comprising detectives from Metro Police, North Las Vegas and Henderson police, FBI agents and U.S. marshals.

Dockins is a suspect in several armed robberies in Las Vegas and is wanted in Seattle on drug charges, police said.

Police did not have details about Dockins' escape or his original conviction.

Children found after 7 hours

Two children who wandered away from a family outing were found in a rugged area of Mount Charleston Monday night, seven hours after they touched off an intensive ground and aerial search.

The boys, ages 5 and 7, were spotted by a Metro Police Search and Rescue helicopter about 7:30 p.m. They were reported missing about 12:30 p.m. Monday when they wandered away from a family outing in the Lee Canyon area.

A 6-year-old boy also wandered away with the pair, but was found unharmed about an hour after the trio disappeared.

Metro Police spokesman Steve Meriwether said the two who were found at dusk appeared to be in good condition.

Meriwether said the two were found about six miles from the point where they wandered off earlier in the afternoon.

The names of the youngsters and their parents were not immediately available.

Meetings set on roadless areas

Residents can learn more about the U.S. Forest Service's proposed rule governing roadless areas in the nation's forests during meetings scheduled Wednesday.

Identical meetings are being conducted 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. Both will include a presentation about the agency's proposed initiative and time for residents' questions.

The meetings are for information only. Public comments will be taken during sessions June 29.

The agency's Roadless Area Conservation Proposal was released May 9. It calls for prohibiting new roads in 43 million acres of roadless areas of national forests and grasslands. And it provides for additional protection of these areas through local forest planning.