News briefs for Dec. 8, 2003

Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

74-year-old driver killed

A 74-year-old man was killed in a traffic accident about 3 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Road and Foster Avenue, Henderson Police said.

James Earl Floyd was pronounced dead at the scene. An elderly female passenger was taken to University Medical Center.

Police said Floyd, driving a 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight, tried to turn west onto Sunset from Foster, cutting in front of a pickup truck driven by Guy Allen Jr., 21. The pickup hit Floyd's car on the driver's side. Allen was not injured.

Fire damages vacant building

Las Vegas fire investigators believe a homeless man started a fire this morning that damaged part of a vacant building.

The fire started in a shed attached to a boarded-up duplex about 5:30 a.m. at 1206 S. Casino Center Blvd., fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

A homeless man was treated by paramedics for minor burns on his face, and then he was arrested by Metro Police on unrelated charges.

Two killed while street racing

A street racing driver and his passenger were killed when their car crashed into Monica's Korean BBQ on Jones Boulevard at Sahara Avenue about 9 p.m. Saturday, police said.

A 1998 Chrysler convertible driven by a 19-year-old Henderson man was speeding south on Jones when the driver lost control and began to spin. The car hit a tree, some shrubs and struck the restaurant.

The driver and his passenger, Anthony Ely, 17 of Henderson, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver's name hasn't been released.

Restaurant employee Chang Cho, was struck by flying debris, was taken to University Medical Center where she was treated and released, police said.

Police said the driver of the Chrysler apparently had been racing Stephen Ashley, 18, who was driving a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. Ashley lost control of his car a short distance away at Jones Boulevard and Laredo Street and hit a block wall. He was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

Suspect sought in Hells Angels case

A Las Vegas man is among nine defendants not yet arrested in connection with an indictment that alleges violence in the aid of racketeering by Hells Angels members at an April 2002 gun battle in Laughlin.

Patrick Jeorge Kalabolas, 55, was at Harrah's Laughlin when two Hells Angels and one member of the Mongols motorcycle gang were shot and killed, according to the indictment that charges a total of 42 Hells Angels members with racketeering.

Kalabolas is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 176 pounds and has brown hair and eyes. Anyone who knows of his whereabouts is asked to call the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at 386-4700.

Ceremony set for new judge

A formal investiture ceremony for new U.S. District Judge Robert Clive Jones is scheduled for Dec. 29 at the George Federal Building.

Jones, 56, was nominated to the position on June 10 by President Bush on the recommendation of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

Jones, who was appointed as a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Nevada in 1983 and again in 2000, was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 2 to become a District Court judge.

Jones, who was born and raised in Las Vegas, began serving as a District Court judge on Dec. 1 succeeding District Judge David Hagen, who assumed senior status in Reno.

The investiture ceremony will be conducted at 1 p.m. and is open to the public.