News briefs for April 30, 2001

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

DARE motorcycle collides with car

A North Las Vegas Police officer on the way to a children's awareness event in the DARE anti-drug program Saturday was injured when his motorcycle collided with a car and slid about 80 feet.

The accident happened about 9:45 a.m. on Losee Road near Miller Avenue. Police said a car made a left turn in front of Officer Dan Ewing, whose motorcycle hit the back end of the car.

Ewing suffered injuries on his left shoulder, elbow, hand and leg, but is recovering, police said.

The driver of the car, Saul Fernandez, was charged with making an unsafe turn, failure to pay full-time attention to driving and operating a vehicle without liability insurance.

The department's DARE motorcycle was totaled in the accident.

Bullhead man arrested in killing

A Bullhead City, Ariz., man was arrested Saturday in the slaying of an Arizona man found dead in just west of Laughlin.

Gregory Amato, 37, has been booked by Bullhead City Police for theft, trafficking in stolen property, theft of a credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card.

Jimmie D. Ingle, 57, was found dead on Thursday with an obvious head wound, Metro Police said.

Detectives discovered that Ingle's credit card was used in Bullhead City on Friday and located Ingle's car at a Bullhead City motel.

Police say young teen victimized

Metro Police detectives with the sexual assault unit have completed a three-month investigation into allegations against a church youth leader by arresting 29-year-old Heraldo Neftali Gomez.

Gomez was arrested last week on charges of attempted sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under 14 years old, police said.

Gomez was an assistant pastor and youth group leader of the Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 5424 Tamarus St. Police said the victim, a 13-year-old girl, met Gomez while attending church-sponsored youth activities.

Man killed in watercraft crash

A California man was killed Friday night when his personal watercraft collided with another watercraft on the Colorado River near Laughlin.

The 44-year-old Cayuso, Calif., resident was taken to the Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City, where he died of internal injuries.

The victim and his fiancee were in town for the Laughlin River Run, an annual gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts from around the country.

Brother charged in man's death

A Las Vegas man has been arrested and charged with murder in the Sunday afternoon stabbing death of his brother, Metro Police said.

Steven William Jones, 20, was found dead from an apparent stab wound about 3:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of Linnbaker Lane, near Lamb Boulevard and Owens Avenue.

Homicide detectives say that Jones was arguing with his 22-year-old brother, Daniel Raymond Jones, inside their apartment. During the argument Steven was stabbed, and then ran outside where he collapsed, police said.

Daniel Jones was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for murder with a deadly weapon.

PUC approves new Reno utility

Sierra Pacific's sale of the Reno area's water system to a new entity representing Reno, Sparks and Washoe County has cleared its final hurdle.

The state Public Utilities Commission granted final approval Friday to the Truckee Meadows Water Authority's purchase of the utility's water division for $350 million.

At the same time, the PUC decided to give refunds to Reno-area water customers this summer and next summer as part of a final distribution of profits from the sale.

Under the action, residential and commercial customers will get a total of $21.5 million in credits.