News briefs for July 12, 2001

Thursday, July 12, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

Five arrested by task force

An investigation by a law enforcement task force into a drug trafficking group operating in Las Vegas resulted in five arrests last week.

The task force, composed of the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office, Metro Police, Henderson Police, North Las Vegas Police and the Nevada Division of Investigation, targeted the group for more than a year, an FBI spokesman said.

Those arrested included Adolfo Ramirez, 23, Thomas Spandola, 38, Megan Muillenburg, 19, Edwin Chavez, 24, and Ann Skorka, 21, FBI officials said. All are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Man sought for questioning

Henderson Police are looking for a man who they want to question in connection with an accident Wednesday that resulted in two people being sent to the hospital.

The accident happened about 9 a.m. in the area of Eastern and Evansville avenues, when police say a work truck traveled through a stop sign and made a left onto Eastern at a high speed. Two men were in the back of the Executive Plastering truck, and both were thrown from the truck as the driver made the turn.

Both men were taken to University Medical Center; one of the men was listed in fair condition, the other in critical condition. The driver fled the scene of the accident, police said.

Police say that officials with Executive Plastering say that Daniel Pacheco-Vasques, 20, was likely driving the truck at the time of the accident. Pacheco-Vasques is wanted for questioning about the accident, a police spokesman said.

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call police at 565-8933 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Police seeking new information

Metro Police is asking for the public's help with its investigation into the June homicide of a Las Vegas man.

Jerry Stamper, 24, was found dead on a sidewalk in an apartment complex near Tropicana Avenue and McLeod Drive on June 30 about 1:15 a.m., police said.

Stamper was last seen alive about 12:30 a.m. at a convenience store at Tropicana and Pecos. Investigators are looking for anyone who may have seen Stamper after he left the store and started walking back to his apartment complex.

Stamper was about 5 feet 11 inches, 150 pounds and had light brown hair. He was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and jean shorts. He was carrying three compact discs, which were missing from the crime scene, police say.

Anyone with information about Stamper's whereabouts on the morning of June 30 is asked to call detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

BLM bringing water to area

The Bureau of Land Management is hauling water to an area southwest of Fallon after two colts and two mares were found dead near a dry canal.

The BLM said it appears the colts became stuck in a mud hole and died when they couldn't free themselves. The mares, unwilling to leave their young, stayed nearby and likely died of thirst or starvation.

The dead horses were discovered Monday. Officials believe they died a few days earlier.

Local residents said a herd of about a dozen horses has been seen in the area the past several months.

Men convicted in cabbie killing

The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from two people who received no-parole life terms for their roles in the shooting death of a Reno cabbie for $89.

The high court ruled Tuesday against Latisha Marie Babb and Weston Sirex, convicted of first-degree murder in the October 1997 shooting death of John Castro Jr.

Shawn Harte, a codefendant, was sentenced to death for the murder of Castro, who had driven him and Sirex from southeast Reno to Cold Springs north of Reno. Babb followed them in the getaway vehicle.

After the shooting, the three went to a fast-food restaurant and then to Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Reno, where they played carnival games, prosecutors said.

The three told authorities that they were short on cash and originally planned to rob a convenience store or motel. Castro had only $89 on him at the time.

Sirex, who was a dispatcher and driver for a competing cab company, is from Reno. Babb and Harte are both from Fallon.

Beith held in sex case

Family members of William A. Beith have petitioned U.S. marshals to transfer him to another jail, but their complaints that the conditions are inhumane have fallen on deaf ears, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported.

Beith, 29, of Burns Harbor, has pleaded not guilty to charges he had sex with an 11-year-old girl as they traveled across the country for seven days in May, evading an FBI manhunt until their arrest in Las Vegas.

Beith's family asked for his release or a change in his near-solitary confinement, calling the conditions unusually harsh.

U.S. Marshal Michael Carrington, whose office supervises all pretrial incarcerations, this week said he has no plans to move the former school principal from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

U.S. Magistrate Andrew Rodovich ruled June 12 that Beith be held without bond until trial because he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.