News briefs for June 13, 2002

Thursday, June 13, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

Man sought in LV killing caught in La.

A 22-year-old man wanted in connection with the January slaying of a Las Vegas man was arrested Wednesday in Louisiana.

Jermaine Smith was arrested about 10 a.m. Wednesday in Bossier City, La., after police received information he was staying with relatives in Shreveport, La., Sgt. Ted Lee of the Las Vegas area's Criminal Apprehension Team said.

Smith is accused of shooting death of 24-year-old Derrick E. Caver about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8 in a hallway of the Moulin Rouge on Bonanza Road.

Smith was being held this morning in the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office jail in Benton, La., pending extradition to Las Vegas, officials said.

Las Vegan charged in investment scam

An indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Wednesday charges a Las Vegas man with conducting an investment scheme that cost his victims more than $500,000.

Richard Raymond Ruppert is named in the indictment that alleges he ran a bank investment scheme from December 1998 to April 2000.

The document further alleges that the scheme involved Ruppert misrepresenting to investors the idea that he would use their money to buy discounted bank notes and securities, then resell them to institutional pension funds and offshore banks at a profit to the investors.

Instead of investing the funds, the indictment states, Ruppert converted nearly all of the funds for his own use.

Pioche wildfire contained

A wildfire in the Pioche area has been contained, fire officials said.

The 350 firefighters who had battled the blaze since 3:15 p.m. Saturday began returning home Wednesday.

At the height of the fire 20 engines, two helicopters and two small air tankers battled the blaze.

It scorched 941 acres of pinion-juniper and sagebrush. Also damaged or destroyed were 11 structures, one an unoccupied mobile home. There were no injuries.

The BLM Ely Field Office began assessing damages from the fire so rehabilitation can begin.

"Our goal is to stabilize soils and restore -- using native plant species -- the acreage burned by the fire," Troy Grooms, a BLM Ely Field Office rangeland specialist, said Wednesday.

Driver who fled crash scene sought

Metro Police are searching for the driver of a Dodge Durango who ran from the area after crashing into a car, killing the elderly driver and injuring his wife Wednesday night.

The driver of the Durango was passing other motorist northbound on Lamb Boulevard about 8 p.m. near Colorado Avenue when he lost control. The truck went into a sideways slide, jumped the center median and went into the southbound lanes, police said.

The Durango struck the driver's side of a car driven by 82-year-old Edward Kellogg of Las Vegas, killing him and injuring his 81-year-old wife, Edith Kellogg, who was listed in serious condition in University Medical Center this morning.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Detective William Redfairn at 229-3128 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Woman hit by bus in critical condition

A Las Vegas woman struck by a CAT bus Wednesday while crossing a street remained in critical condition this morning.

Sarah Greenberg, 59, was crossing Twain Avenue near Arville Street on a green light and was struck by a Citizen Area Transit bus making a right turn from Arville Street about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Metro Police said.

Greenberg was taken to University Medical Center and remains in the trauma intensive care unit.

The bus driver, Melinda Smith, 41, of Hackberry, Texas, was cited for failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian.

None of the seven passengers on the bus was injured.

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