Gaming briefs for April 12, 2001

Thursday, April 12, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

Hotel patrons claim jewelry was stolen

Two Sunset Station patrons sued the Henderson hotel-casino and its owner Station Casinos Inc. and another hotel guest, alleging Sunset Station's negligence resulted in the theft of about $97,000 worth of jewelry.

In a Clark County District Court lawsuit, Glafira Zavala and Sylvia Casillas, who said they were checked into Sunset Station's room 525 on Dec. 13, alleged the hotel-casino failed to tell them that an unauthorized person was also later checked into their room and allowed to remain there with their luggage.

The plaintiffs said they notified the hotel and the Henderson Police Department on Dec. 14 when Zavala allegedly discovered her jewelry was missing.

"Our records show (the allegedly unauthorized person) was never charged with theft or arrested," said Henderson police spokeswoman Valerie Klein.

Klein said the police closed the case on Jan. 21, after the District Attorney's office determined that the case "lacks prosecutorial merit."

Jon Ludwig, the plaintiffs' attorney, declined comment on the findings of the police and prosecutors and on whether the jewelry had been recovered.

The plaintiffs, who said they ordered room service and told the hotel staff that no one would be in the room when the order was delivered, alleged the man was able to enter the plaintiffs' room and rifle through their luggage because Sunset Station allegedly gave him an electronic key to the room.

The suit said the hotel staff, when they arrived with the plaintiffs' room service order and found the man in their room, allegedly failed to search him or his luggage for items that didn't belong to him, even after he said he didn't recognize some of the luggage in the room and allegedly indicated he didn't order room service.

Station spokesman Jack Taylor said the company couldn't comment because it has not seen the lawsuit.

Driver in wreck tested for alcohol at 0.12

ALPINE, Calif. -- The man behind the wheel of a casino-bound tour bus that overturned on a mountain highway had three times the legal limit of alcohol for bus drivers in his system.

A computerized breath test showed that Tomas Jimenez, 51, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12, three times the 0.04 limit for bus drivers, the California Highway Patrol said.

Investigators were waiting for the results of a more precise blood test to confirm the finding and also looking into whether Jimenez had a valid driver's license and the tour company had the required permits, CHP Lt. Dennis Brunette said.

Jimenez was driving 35 passengers from Mexicali, Mexico, to the Viejas Indian casino near Alpine during a storm when he swerved to avoid another accident and lost control of the bus.

All the passengers were taken to San Diego-area hospitals and most were treated and released. Eight remained hospitalized Wednesday but none had critical injuries, said Roberto Gonzalez, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate.

Jimenez, also from Mexicali, remained jailed Wednesday on felony drunken driving charges.