News briefs for April 25, 2003

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

Crash closes down I-15 for 7 hours

Interstate 15 was closed for about seven hours Thursday after a southbound tractor-trailer driver lost control and slammed head-on into two northbound cement mixer trucks, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

The crash occurred about 7:40 a.m. between Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The driver of the tractor-trailer slammed on his brakes to avoid traffic, veered across the median into the northbound lanes, troopers said.

The tractor-trailer driver and one of the cement truck drivers were taken to University Medical Center in serious condition. The highway reopened about 2:45 p.m.

Pedestrian runs into car's path

An unidentified man is in serious condition after he was hit by a 1983 Lincoln Continental Thursday night in the 3400 block of East Lake Mead Boulevard, North Las Vegas police said.

Police said shortly before 9 p.m., the man made a purchase at a 7-Eleven store at 3575 E. Lake Mead Blvd., then tried to run across the street. He ran into the path of the Lincoln, driven by Tracy Washington, police said. The man, whom police and hospital personnel are calling Brian Doe, was taken to University Medical Center with serious injuries.

Bottle on bus leaks caustic liquid

The Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Hazardous Materials Response Team responded to the Downtown Transportation Center about 9:15 a.m. Thursday after a small plastic bottle was found in the rear of a bus leaking an unknown liquid on a seat.

When a Citizen Area Transportation bus driver and another CAT employee went to clean up the spill, they said it began to eat through the rag they were using to wipe it up, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The hazardous materials team tested the remaining liquid and believe it was an industrial-strength cleaning solution that was in a thin plastic bottle, Szymanski said.

The chemical broke through the bottle and leaked on the bus seat, he said. The bus is expected to be cleaned by a professional hazardous material cleaning company, he said.

Body found in luggage is ID'd

The Clark County coroner's office has identified a slain man found in a piece of luggage April 18 as Julio Ramirez-Martinez, 42.

Metro Police are seeking the public's help in learning more about Ramirez-Martinez. Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide section at 229-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.