Man found dead in car

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

Las Vegas firefighters who responded to a 911 call about a fire at an apartment complex near Desert Inn Road and Durango Drive this morning found a man dead inside a car parked in a garage.

A resident of the Crystal Cove apartments called the fire department shortly after 6 a.m. reporting smoke coming from a garage on Embassy Court.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said firefighters found "a very small fire" under the hood of Lincoln Mark Eight and a man dead behind the wheel.

Initial investigation showed no evidence of foul play or suicide, Szymanski said. But he said fire officials are not ruling anything out.

Metro Police homicide detectives responded to the scene as a precaution, Szymanski said.

"Anytime we have a fire fatality in the city we work with Metro homicide to make sure there was no criminal activity," he said.

The man might have died of smoke inhalation, but the official cause of death will be determined at the autopsy, he said. His identity has not been released.

Szymanski said he believes the man lived in the apartment.

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