News briefs for June 18, 2001

Monday, June 18, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

LV man hit by minivan, dies

A 58-year-old Las Vegas man died on Sunday after being hit by a minivan while trying to cross Boulder Highway outside a crosswalk.

Clayton A. Valenta was admitted at University Medical Center, after he tried to cross from the west side of Boulder Highway to the east side near Nellis Boulevard about 10 a.m. Sunday. He died at 3:35 p.m., a hospital official said.

Valenta ran in front of the minivan and was hit, police said. The cause of the accident appears to be jaywalking, police said.

Police recover stolen jewelry

Metro Police have made an arrest and recovered nearly $900,000 in stolen jewelry in connection with a May burglary.

Police have arrested Edward C. Vemiel on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. Police had been investigating the disappearance of $888,000 in jewelry from a home near Rampart Boulevard and Summerlin Parkway between May 17 and 23.

Police allege Vemiel sold a large amount of jewels during a jewelry buying event at the Crown Plaza hotel. Police recovered all of the stolen jewelry, and the investigation is continuing, police said.

Police investigate NLV death

North Las Vegas Police are continuing to investigate the death of a man who may have been playing Russian roulette.

Police responded to an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Bassler Street, near Carey Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, about noon Saturday for a report of a man down in a parking lot. A man was found dead with a gunshot wound in the head. Homicide detectives discovered what appeared to be bloody drag marks leading from the parking lot to an apartment. Witnesses told detectives that the man had been playing Russian roulette inside an apartment and shot himself in the head. He was then dragged from the apartment, witnesses told police.

Police obtained a search warrant and went inside the apartment where the man was allegedly playing Russian roulette, and found evidence that he may have been shot there. No one was in the apartment, and the investigation is continuing.

Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to call North Las Vegas Police at 633-9111.

Blaze quickly controlled

About 30 firefighters from Clark County and Henderson battled a thick, smoky blaze near Sam Boyd Stadium Sunday night.

Fire dispatchers got numerous calls of heavy black smoke in brushlands off Russell Road and Boulder Highway about 6:20 p.m.

The blaze destroyed five acres of desert vegetation. A large column of smoke could be seen valleywide,but the fire threatened no inhabited property, Clark County Fire Department officials said.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control in 20 minutes, fire officials said. There were no injuries. The cause is undetermined. No dollar loss was attributed to the fire.

Barbecue remnants spark house blaze

Improperly disposed charcoal briquettes were blamed for a Sunday morning fire that caused $60,000 in damage to a home.

The fire started about 8:45 a.m. in a townhouse near Tropicana and Jones boulevards, County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said.

Firefighters approached the blaze carefully, because the owner said that he kept about 1,000 rounds of ammunition in the garage. No one was hurt in the fire, and a fire captain rescued a dog from inside the home.

Although charcoal can feel cool to the touch after it is used, the inner core remains hot for a much longer period of time, La-Sky said. To properly dispose of charcoal, La-Sky recommends soaking it overnight in a bucket of water after using it.

Man burned in blaze

A 37-year-old man working in his garage suffered first- and second-degree burns on 10 percent to 20 percent of his face and arms in a Saturday afternoon fire.

The man was working on a jet ski, when some gasoline ignited and burned him. He was taken to the University Medical Center burn unit for treatment. He is listed in good condition this morning.

The fire started about 2:45 p.m. at the Rainbow Garden Townhouses, near Vegas and Rock Springs drives, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Firefighters kept the blaze from spreading to other townhouses, but the unit where the fire started was gutted, with damage estimated at $85,000.

The fire has been ruled accidental. Two pet cats died.

Children in critical condition

A four-month-old baby and a 10-year-old boy remained in critical condition Sunday at University Medical Center after a two-car accident injured a total of 10 people Saturday night.

The accident occurred about 10:30 p.m. on Lamb Boulevard and Alexander Road. A Nissan Sentra with eight people inside reportedly failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection as it headed west on Alexander, causing the car to collide with a Ford F-150 pickup headed south on Lamb, Metro Police said.

The four-month-old, Jarased Magana, and the 10-year-old, William Magana, were in the back seat of the Nissan and were thrown from the car during the collision. The other six people in the Nissan and the two people in the pickup were taken to UMC to be treated for less serious injuries.

Teen says he will plead guilty

An 18-year-old Las Vegas resident announced Friday he intends to plead guilty to running over and killing an 87-year-old pedestrian.

Isidro Rubio told Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo he will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter during his arraignment before District Judge Nancy Saitta on June 25.

As the result of a plea agreement, Rubio could get probation or one to four years in prison.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said he believes Rubio's inexperience in driving caused him to accidentally step on the gas instead of the brake while driving near Owens and Eastern avenues last month.

Rubio lost control of the car and it hit a retaining wall, causing the air bag to deploy. The car then struck Faustino Palomar and two parked cars.

Rubio had no drugs or alcohol in his system, but he also had no driver's license, Booker said.

Public comment period extended

The public has been given additional time to comment on a supplement to the draft environmental impact statement the U.S. Department of Energy has prepared on Yucca Mountain.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham approved an extension of the public comment period from June 25 to July 6, DOE spokesman Allen Benson said.

"We got a bunch of requests from state and local government and from others who wanted the additional time," Benson said.

Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is being studied by the federal government as a potential repository for the nation's high-level waste.

Those who wish to comment may do so by calling toll free at 800-225-6972 or going to the Internet website: www.ymp.gov.

Inmate charged with murder

A man being held at the Clark County Detention Center has been charged with murder in a May shooting.

Miguel Angel Robles, 19, was in the jail on unrelated charges, when detectives charged him with the May 27 homicide of Oscar D. Chacon, a 30-year-old North Las Vegas resident.

Police found Chacon shot to death in an alley just south of the 2500 block of Poppy Lane, near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road. The motive for the homicide is still uncertain, police said.

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