News briefs for May 14, 2001

Monday, May 14, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

Man arrested in hit-and-run case

A Las Vegas man was arrested Sunday in connection with a hit-and-run accident that killed a 30-year-old pedestrian.

Jose Mercedes Lemus-Mejia, 24, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury and failure to use due care. Lemus-Mejia is accused of losing control of the Nissan Sentra he was driving on Valley View Boulevard south of San Joaquin Avenue and traveling onto the sidewalk about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, Metro Police said.

The car collided with a 30-year-old pedestrian, and then hit a tree before careening into the pedestrian a second time, police said. The pedestrian, whose name was not released this morning pending notification of his family, died at the scene.

The driver and possibly four passengers fled from the car after the accident. About 10 a.m. Sunday, Lemus-Mejia called Metro's dispatch center saying he believed he was involved with an accident, police said.

Bug sprayer found man's body

A pest control worker discovered a man's body Friday afternoon as the worker sprayed for bugs at an apartment complex on Swenson Street near Twain Avenue.

Ronald Lee Wyatt, 49, was found in an apartment in the 3600 block of Swenson Street. Metro Police said he had stab wounds. Wyatt had lived in the complex for many years, police said.

Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call police at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Man was found in room at Maxim

The name of a 44-year-old man found dead and wrapped in plastic under a bed in the Maxim hotel last month was released this morning as David A. Sygnarski.

Sygnarski was found April 26 by a hotel employee who was cleaning the room, Metro Police said.

Sygnarski's name was not released immediately because Clark County coroner officials had difficulty locating his family.

Balcony blaze under investigation

The cause of a fire on a balcony in an exclusive high-rise condominium Friday is under investigation, but it is believed to be accidental, Clark County Fire Department officials said.

The 12:10 p.m. fire Friday was confined to a balcony on the 17th floor of the 28-story Regency Towers at the Las Vegas Country Club. The fire was quickly extinguished, said Steve La-Sky, a fire department spokesman.

The fired cause about $50,000 in damages, mostly to the building's exterior. No one was injured, he said.

The fire went to two alarms, but La-Sky said that is a normal response to any fire reported at a high-rise.

In March, the Regency Towers, home to some of Las Vegas' most prominent citizens, was the scene of a methamphetamine lab explosion and fire.

Sexual offender dies in gunfight

A man wanted in a series of cross-country crimes, including a sexual assault in Las Vegas, was killed during a shootout with law enforcers Friday morning in the lobby of a New York City hotel.

Maghfoor Mansoor, 35, was shot at the Hampshire Hotel after being confronted by members of a joint task force of NYPD detectives, FBI agents and U.S. marshals, said Assistant FBI Director Barry Mawn.

Mansoor was convicted in 1996 of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in Las Vegas, and then, while being prosecuted in the sexual assault and kidnapping of a 17-year-old girl in Las Vegas in December 2000, he fled.

Mansoor was also wanted for allegedly carjacking a woman's pickup while fleeing authorities at the New Orleans International Airport on Jan. 9. During the chase, Mansoor struck and killed a flagman controlling traffic near a highway construction site.

Deputy constable in gunfire exchange

Metro Police have arrested a 50-year-old Las Vegas man after an exchange of gunshots with a deputy constable Friday led to a seven-hour standoff.

Michael C. Madison, was booked on charges of attempted murder of a peace officer and obstructing a peace officer with a weapon.

A deputy in the Clark County-Las Vegas constable's office was serving an order of eviction at a home in the 2900 block of Sterling Cove Drive, near Cheyenne Avenue and Rampart Boulevard, when he was confronted by an armed man, police said.

The constable had entered the home about 11:15 a.m. with the help of a locksmith after there was no answer at the door. Police said once inside the home the constable announced himself.

The constable was fired upon and then returned fire. The man then barricaded himself in a bedroom, police said.

Metro's SWAT team and negotiators were called to the scene, and about 6:45 p.m. Madison surrendered, police said.

Posters placed in post offices

The Nevada Office of Child Support Enforcement and the Nevada attorney general have released the latest in a series of posters featuring information and photographs of the state's most wanted deadbeat parents.

The posters, featuring parents who have failed to pay child support, have been placed in most post offices. The poster can also be found in state agencies and at the attorney general's website (ag.state.nv.us).

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