News briefs for August 12, 2003

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Boy, 16, killed outside apartment

A 16-year-old Las Vegas boy was shot and killed outside an apartment complex in the 800 block of West Lake Mead Boulevard about 11:15 p.m. Monday, police said.

Rodney Washington was visiting relatives who lived in the apartment building, and shortly after he left the building the family heard a gunshot, police said. When his relatives rushed outside, they found Washington on the sidewalk.

He died before paramedics arrived.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Homicide at 229-3521.

Brush fire burns about 100 acres

A brush fire that burned about 100 acres in the area near Hollywood Boulevard and Sloan Lane this morning did not cause any structural damage, fire officials said.

The blaze started around 4 a.m. and was mostly out by 8:45 a.m., Clark County Fire Department spokesperson Bob Leinbach said.

Units responded from the county, Las Vegas and the Bureau of Land Management, he said. Firefighters also used the help of nearby construction water tankers to fight the blaze.

Leinbach said the cause of the fire has yet to determined. He added that since the area is remote officials may never know the cause. Since no buildings were damaged and no lives were lost he said the investigation will probably not be very intense.

Man sentenced in Internet sex case

A Washington, D.C., man convicted of traveling to Las Vegas to have sex with a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 37 months in prison by a federal judge Monday.

Danai Young, 33, was arrested last summer at a local casino where he had planned to meet the girl, but instead met FBI agents who had been working undercover.

An agent had posed as the 14-year-old on an Internet chat site called, "I Love Older Men."

After 26 chats over four months Young came to Las Vegas to have sex with the girl, federal prosecutors said.

Young was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and faces two years of supervised release after completing his sentence.

Court suspends LV attorney

The Nevada Supreme Court Monday temporarily suspended the license of Las Vegas attorney Charles K.H. Chong over allegations that he misappropriated more than $7,000 from his former employer and then essentially abandoned his clients and his office.

Chong could not be found for comment.

Pending a formal disciplinary action hearing by the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board of the State Bar, Chong is prohibited from accepting new clients and may continue to represent existing clients for 15 days only.

Any money he receives from the fees must be deposited in a trust account with no withdrawals except upon written approval of the counsel for the bar or a court.

A spokeswoman at his Las Vegas office said Chong does not work there anymore and she did not have any new telephone number for the attorney.

The Supreme Court order said documents "before us demonstrate that Chong poses a substantial threat of serious harm, and that his immediate temporary suspension is warranted."