News briefs for August 19, 2002

Monday, Aug. 19, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

Suspect arrested in sexual assaults

Metro Police detectives have arrested a Las Vegas man in a series of sexual assaults.

Xmeiga Koqnyto Gary, 22, a 12-year Las Vegas resident, was charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of battery with intent to commit sexual assault and two counts of first-degree kidnapping.

Metro said officers, about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, saw a man in a vehicle matching the description of a man wanted in at least five sexual assaults near West Flamingo Road.

Women sitting at bus stops between 10:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. along West Flamingo had been approached by a man who offered them a ride. Once the women got into the car, they were driven to a secluded area and attacked. Those who refused the ride were forced into the car, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the sexual assaults is urged to call Metro's sexual assault detail, 229-3421.

Two die, three injured in crash

Two Las Vegas men died and three others are in a hospital this morning after a one-vehicle accident Sunday afternoon.

The driver lost control of the sport utility vehicle on Lake Mead Boulevard near Hollywood Boulevard about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The truck overturned in the desert area off the roadway, ejecting the driver and the four passengers, Nevada Highway Patrol officials said.

One man, Eduardo Hernandez, 17, died at the scene, and another man, Augusto Carrera, 27, died at University Medical Center. Three other men are still recovering at the hospital.

A 22-year-old man and a 31-year-old man are in critical condition, and a 30-year-old man is in fair at UMC this morning.

Troopers are investigating the crash and have not yet determined which of the men was driving the SUV.

Passenger killed as car hits pole

Metro Police are investigating an accident that left one man dead about 2 a.m. Saturday.

Bruce Averill, 51, was driving a 1983 Ford LTD northbound on Arville Street at Del Ray Avenue when the car went onto the sidewalk and struck a light pole, police said.

Averill and another man, 45, were taken to University Medical Center for treatment. The passenger died at the hospital.

A second passenger, Annemari Cassabona, 35, was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Officers said alcohol appears to be a contributing factor.

Wildfire strikes Nevada Test Site

Firefighters from the Nevada Test Site, the Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service contained a wildfire on Sunday that burned up to 1,000 acres in a remote area of the Test Site.

Firefighters with the help of helicopter water drops from the Air Force and the BLM fully contained the fire that started about 3 p.m. Friday.

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue offered support at the Test Site's base fire station in Mercury, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

There were no injuries and no major facilities or buildings burned, said Kathleen Carlson, manager of the Nevada Operations Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Some wooden power poles had been damaged and will be replaced.