News briefs for June 10, 2003

Tuesday, June 10, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

Metro names cops in shooting

Metro Police have released the names of the four officers involved in a shooting Thursday at the Capri Motel on Fremont Street.

The officers are Steven Armbruster, 28, who was hired in June 2001; David Cienega, 39, hired in February 1994; Jason Connell, 25, hired in March 200l; and Jason Leavitt, 28, hired in December 1998.

In accordance with Metro policy, the officers have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

The officers were attempting to serve a narcotics-related search warrant at a room at the motel when the suspect, George Thomas Murray, 42, drove his car toward the officers, police said. The officers fired their weapons at him, police said.

Murray is in critical condition at University Medical Center.

Court withdraws admonishment

The Nevada Supreme Court on Monday withdrew its admonishment of Las Vegas attorney Elizabeth Brickfield, who had been criticized for filing irrelevant material in the appeal of convicted killer Richard Haberstroh.

The court last month admonished Brickefield and her fellow federal public defender, Michael Pescetta, for submitting more than 11,384 pages of material the court said was irrelevant to the appeal.

After the admonishment, Pescetta informed the court that Brickfield had just been assigned to the case and had no part in filing the boxes of material.

The court accepted the statement of Pescetta who has been cautioned he could face sanctions in the future.

The court, in a 4-3 decision last month, granted a new sentencing hearing for Haberstroh, who has been on death row for raping, strangling and robbing 20-year-old Donna Kitowski in 1986 after kidnapping her from a grocery store parking.

Family escapes house fire

A child playing with a lighter caused a fire in a house near Gowan Road and Jones Boulevard Monday morning, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

A mattress in a back bedroom of the house in the 6001 block of Carmel Way caught fire shortly before 8 a.m. Two adults and three children were in the house when the fire started, Szymanski said.

A woman who lives in the house told firefighters the smoke alarm woke her up. She got the children out and tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher, but the fire was too big. Firefighters had the blaze under control within 10 minutes. The fire caused about $60,000 in damage to three bedrooms, Szymanski said.

The female resident had just replaced batteries in a smoke alarm on Sunday, he said. No one was injured in the fire.

Bail hearing in fatal crash held

A District Court judge this afternoon was to decide whether to revoke bail for the Henderson woman convicted of felony reckless driving in a collision that killed two elderly women.

District Judge Nancy Saitta was scheduled to determine whether Karen Beth Morris, 35, violated her probation by working out at a local gym.

Morris pleaded guilty to three counts of reckless driving in the March 2001 crash that killed Leona Greif, 61, and Marcia Nathans, 65. Authorities claim Morris was talking on her cell phone and speeding when the accident occurred.

Morris also faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but prosecutors dropped those charges as the result of the plea agreement.