Crime and court briefs for March 16, 2001

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 12:02 p.m.

Agreement reached in man's slaying

A Las Vegas man arrested in October in connection with the death of a 57-year-old local resident Thursday entered into a last-minute deal with prosecutors.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael O'Callaghan said David Lewis pleaded no contest to murder, attempted murder and probation violation shortly before opening statements were to begin in his trial.

As a result of the plea agreement, Lewis, 57, will be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by District Judge Sally Loehrer on April 16.

According to police, Lewis shot William S. Roseland, 57, on Sept. 23 and Roseland died about two weeks later.

Lewis, the manager of a mobile home park on East Lake Mead Boulevard, got into an argument with Roseland and another man. Lewis got out a shotgun and fired toward both of them at the mobile home park.

At the time, Lewis was on probation for battery with use of a deadly weapon, O'Callaghan said.

Man found shot to death in car

A 39-year-old man was shot to death this morning in what Metro Police termed a poorly designed narcotics transaction.

Officers were called to the 800 block of Balzar Avenue, near Lake Mead and Martin Luther King boulevards, about 12:50 a.m. today and found a white Jeep Cherokee up against a chain-link fence with the engine going and the wheels still turning.

The driver was dead from a gunshot wound in the chest, police said. The driver's name was not released this morning pending the notification of his family.

Police suspect the man was attempting to buy drugs when he was shot during the transaction. The man's death was in the area of seven other slayings in the past month suspected to be attributed to gang violence.

Anyone with information in the slaying is asked to call Metro Police's homicide unit at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Suspect sought in three heists

Metro Police robbery detectives are looking for a man in connection with three robberies at two loan businesses.

The robberies occurred at the Koster's Cash Loans at 3839 W. Sahara Ave. and 44985 W. Tropicana Ave. The suspect is described as black, between 25- and 32-years-old, about 6 feet tall and 190 pounds, with brown eyes and black wire rim prescription glasses, police said.

The suspect was last seen wearing a beige-colored suit, a white dress shirt, yellow tie and brown shoes.

Koster's is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the robberies. Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call detectives at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.