News briefs for February 18, 2002

Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 | 10:38 a.m.

Youth football coach arrested

Metro Police detectives arrested Stephen James Micciche, 28, Friday on charges of first-degree kidnapping, lewdness with a minor under 14 years old, open and gross lewdness and solicitation of a minor to engage in infamous crimes against nature, all felonies.

The charges were filed in connection with the assault of two boys, ages 10 and 14, Micciche met as the coach of a youth football team.

When the two boys failed to return home after attending a concert on Thursday night, their parents reported them missing Friday morning, police said.

Police alerted local hotels. Detectives with cooperation from the Stardust hotel security staff located Micciche and the younger boy at 2 p.m. Friday. The older boy was discovered at the New Frontier at 2:30 p.m. Neither boy was injured, police said.

Micciche is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail. Both children were returned to their families.

Sexual offender charged in case

A Las Vegas man released from state prison last year after serving a term for sexual crimes was arrested by Metro Police detectives Thursday on a sexual assault charge.

Vincent Mark Santana, 43, was classified as a level 3 offender, the highest threat rating for a sexual predator by law, Lt. Jeff Carlson said. He moved to Las Vegas after his release from a Nevada prison in April 2001.

A Las Vegas woman reported being the victim of a sexual assault Wednesday after she met a man on a local telephone chat line. The man arranged to meet the woman at a bar, and when she got into his car, she was assaulted, police said.

Santana is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

Body found in woman's car

Henderson Police discovered the car of a missing woman at 12:30 p.m. Sunday and are investigating whether a body found inside is that of Shao Lei Liu.

Police said they are investigating the case as a homicide.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the identity of the victim and the cause of death, police said. The car, a 1991 white Chevrolet Blazer, was found on Sprague Street.

Liu, 37, left the Gold Strike Inn in Jean after completing her shift after midnight on Feb. 7, police said. She was reported missing after she failed to return to work since then. Liu was wearing her work uniform of black pants, white shirt and a black vest with a zigzag print on the front.

Secretary to meet Nellis personnel

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will visit Nellis Air Force Base on Wednesday, hosting a town hall meeting for Air Force personnel and participating in combat exercises.

During the town hall meeting, Rumsfeld will discuss transformation and the war on terrorism, referring to U.S. actions after the Sept. 11 domestic terrorist attack.

Rumsfeld will combat training during Red Flag, an exercise that can involve up to 100 aircraft from the United States and its allies.

This Red Flag includes units from the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany.

Plea changed in 1978 Reno killing

A Nevada inmate who served 20 years on death row for a crime he insisted he did not commit reversed course Friday and pleaded guilty to the 1978 murder of a Reno judge's son.

John Mazzan told Washoe District Judge Peter Breen that he stabbed Richard Minor Jr. to death more than 20 years ago during a drug-induced fight over profits from their drug dealing.

"I was dazed and I was in a rage at the time," Mazzan said in court.

"I stabbed the man," he said.

Mazzan, 54, was convicted of the crime in 1979 and sentenced to death the next year. But the Nevada Supreme Court reversed his conviction two years ago and ordered a new trial based on the prosecution's failure to share key information with the defense.

In exchange for the plea, Washoe County prosecutors said they would drop a second murder charge filed within the past year accusing Mazzan of the 1978 killing of Minor's girlfriend, Mustang Ranch prostitute April Barber.

LV woman killed in Florida

Two people, including a Las Vegas woman, were killed in the crash of a helicopter traveling from Orlando, Fla., to pick up NASCAR team owner and former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.

The two killed near New Smyrna Beach were the only ones onboard the helicopter, which crashed in a swampy area. Authorities were first notified the Bell 206 Long Ranger had not reached its destination around 8 a.m. Saturday.

Volusia County sheriff officials tentatively identified the victims as pilot Michael McNellis, of Tampa, and Robin Leedom of Las Vegas. Officials were waiting on autopsy results and dental records checks to confirm the identity of the victims.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.

High-tech center opens in Henderson

The Community College of Southern Nevada officially opened its $6 million, 1.3 acre high-tech center Friday.

The project, located at 1550 Warm Springs Road in Henderson, will be available to both Green Valley High School students as well as CCSN students.

Funded by the Legislature, the center is designed to offer 2,000 high-tech training programs that will serve the needs of Nevada employers.

The center features an open computing lab with state-of-the-art equipment and classrooms that will conduct both evening and daytime courses, Bob Gilbert, CCSN's director of planning and construction, said.

Two riders crash on freeway ramp

A 19-year-old Henderson man died and another man was injured critically when they crashed their motorcycles on the Boulder Highway ramp of U.S. 95 Sunday.

The two motorcycle riders were on the exit ramp heading onto U.S. 95 southbound when they crashed. Both riders were thrown from their motorcycles and landed on the highway Sunday about 1 p.m., the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Both riders were taken to University Medical Center. The 19-year-old man died at the hospital. The other rider, a 27-year-old man, was listed in critical condition, police said.

Speed appears to be a factor in the crashes, police said.