Local news briefs for October 3, 2000

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

Two more charged in death of man

Two Las Vegas residents were charged Friday in connection with the April 22 beating and strangulation of a 38-year-old man found in a trash container.

Terry Allison Peters and Samuel Ralph Wilson, 34, were picked up at their home on an arrest warrant charging them with accessory to murder, Metro Police said.

Police allege Peters and Wilson, who are married, helped dispose of Daniel L. Nichols' body. Robert Lloyd Mello, 26, was booked on murder charges on Aug. 31. He was already in the Clark County jail on unrelated charges when he was booked on the murder charge, police said.

Nichols, who was originally from California, was found in a trash bin in the 2500 block of Westwind Road near Desert Inn Road and Lindell Road by a person walking in the area, police said.

Driver dies in automobile crash

A pickup driver died Monday morning after traveling the wrong way on state Route 160 and crashing head-on into a tractor trailer.

The pickup was heading south in the northbound lane of Route 160 about 6:30 a.m. Monday about a mile west of Rainbow Boulevard when he collided with the tractor trailer, Nevada Highway Patrol officials said.

The accident closed down the road for about four hours, officials said.

The Clark County coroner's office had not positively identified the driver as of this morning, officials said.

Former constable sues election foe

Former North Las Vegas constable candidate Steve Bergstrom has filed a defamation lawsuit against North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Steven Dahl and Constable Herb Brown.

According to the lawsuit, filed Monday in District Court, Dahl, Brown and Brown's campaign manager Mark Kincaid conspired against Bergstrom during the 1998 race for North Las Vegas constable.

Bergstrom alleges the three men knowingly printed and circulated false campaign fliers that said he did not have the qualifications, education and training to be a constable.

In fact, Bergstrom said, he was a police officer in California and has a college degree.

In addition, Bergstrom alleges Dahl told Bergstrom's church he was a racist and made false allegations about him to the Nevada Commission on Ethics.

Brown directed all questions to his attorney, Frank Cremens, who could not be reached for comment.

Dahl declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the lawsuit.

Nursing assistant accused of neglect

CARSON CITY -- A certified nursing assistant for a Las Vegas care center has been charged with a gross misdemeanor for allegedly hitting a patient twice in the face.

Tim Terry, director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the office of the state Attorney General, said Monday that Arthur Lee Brown, 44, was arrested Friday. The incident allegedly occurred at the Cheyenne Care Center in April 1999. Brown is charged with criminal neglect of a patient.

Sunrise Hospital reaccredited

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center's comprehensive cancer program was recently reaccredited.

The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer approved the three-year reaccreditation, which is the maximum a hospital can receive.

A three-year reaccreditation was granted, because Sunrise met a set of standards that included having a multidisciplinary cancer committee, a cancer registry and a program of patient care evaluation.

Traffic affected for a few weeks

Several construction projects throughout Clark County will affect traffic over the next two weeks.

Repairs began Monday on a three-mile stretch of Northshore Road near Echo Bay. Motorists will be guided around the construction area and can expect 10 to 15 minute delays. Two parking lots and a portion of an access road will also be worked on.