Las Vegas news briefs for December 9, 2002

Monday, Dec. 9, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Police probe crash that killed driver

Metro Police are investigating a two-car crash on Industrial Road north of Harmon Avenue that left one man dead on Saturday.

The crash, which occurred about 2:15 p.m., involved a 1987 Mazda RX-7 and a 2002 Jeep Liberty, police said.

Rodolfo Umali, 52, of Las Vegas was driving the Mazda east on Business Lane, off Industrial, and Gregory Graham, 55, of Las Vegas was driving south on Industrial, police said.

The Mazda pulled into the path of the Jeep, police said. Graham tried to avoid the Mazda.

Umali was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. Graham was taken to the hospital with a minor injury.

Officers said it appeared Umali failed to yield the right of way.

Victim believed to have set fire

A woman found burning inside a home late Thursday appears to have set herself on fire, but her death is still under investigation.

Officials this morning had not released the name of the 46-year-old woman killed in the 10 p.m. fire at 3863 Windansea St., near Flamingo Road and Durango Drive.

Firefighters responded shortly after 10 p.m. to a residential fire alarm at the two-story house. No smoke was evident, but firefighters smelled something burning inside the home, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

They extinguished a woman's body on fire in a room near the master bedroom, Leinbach said. The flames were confined to the body and the carpeting around it.

Woman held after inflight incident

A woman flying from London to Las Vegas was detained for questioning by the Immigration and Naturalization Service after disrupting a Virgin Atlantic flight on Sunday morning.

Metro Police, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration responded to the incident, McCarran International Airport spokesman Carl Scarborough said.

The woman became disruptive after she started drinking alcoholic beverages in addition to prescription drugs, officials said.

Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan said she could not confirm reports that the woman had been arrested.

"She is in INS custody," Rhatigan said Sunday. "They're talking to her."

Police seek phony health inspector

A man claiming to be an inspector for the Clark County Health District has tried to extort cash from several restaurants in the past two weeks, Health District authorities said.

The man told restaurant owners they would have to pay him cash bribes or he would order the restaurants closed based on phony health violations, investigators said. The bogus inspector approached Chinese restaurants in the Chinatown Plaza on Spring Mountain Road and approached two Henderson restaurants, asking them to open in the middle of the night. Health inspectors usually visit restaurants during normal business hours, Chief Health Officer Dr. Donald Kwalick said.

"Health District staff also are required to carry badges with photo identification and are not permitted to take cash in the field for permit fees or any other purpose," Kwalick said.

The health district is working with the Nevada Restaurant Association to alert more than 20,000 restaurants in Clark County to double-check anyone claiming to be a health district inspector, Health District Supervisor Mary Hahn said.

Anyone called or visited by a bogus inspector can report it to police or the Health District at 383-1251 during normal business hours or 385-1291 after hours.