City news briefs for December 26, 2003

Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

Truck kills man waiting for bus

A man waiting at a bus stop on Flamingo Road at Valley View Boulevard was killed, and a 38-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested on a charge of drunken driving in the incident Thursday.

The Clark County coroner had not released the identity of the victim this morning pending notification of his family.

Witnesses told Metro Police that a 2001 Nissan Frontier failed to stop at a red light and struck the left front side of a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Saul Mallqui, 43, of Las Vegas.

The Nissan jumped a curb and struck a bus stop where a man in his 50s was waiting, officers said.

The man was taken to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, police said.

John Olney, 38, of Las Vegas tried to leave the area after the accident, but was stopped by passing motorists, police said.

Olney failed a field sobriety test, police allege, and was placed under arrest on charges of felony driving under the influence, felony attempted hit and run and a misdemeanor DUI.

LV man arrested after wife shot

A Las Vegas man was arrested after his wife was shot in the head Christmas morning as she slept, Metro Police said.

Police allege Pablo Palacios, 48, also tried to shoot the family member who witnessed the crime, but the gun did not go off. Palacios' sons tackled him to the ground and held him until police arrived, said Sgt. Chuck Pierce with Metro's Domestic Violence division.

The shooting took place in the 1600 block of Royals Estates, off Owens Avenue just west of Lamb Boulevard, just before 8:45 a.m., Pierce said.

"He was intoxicated, was jealous, and thought his wife was cheating on him," Pierce said. "He told (a family member) that he was going to kill her and went in and shot her. She was sleeping."

Palacios' wife, whose name has not been released, was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition Thursday. The bullet wound caused multiple fractures to her face, Pierce said.

She is now in stable condition and "will survive," Pierce said.

Metro police booked Palacios into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon domestic violence.