News briefs for Sept. 23, 2003

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

Handyman slain in front of home

Metro Police are investigating the killing of a handyman who was shot to death at 7:30 p.m. Monday while installing a light outside a Las Vegas home.

Gustavo Gomez Navarro, 29, of Las Vegas was pronounced dead in the front yard of a home in the 2200 block of Grannis Avenue, near Wyoming and Walnut avenues, Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.

Witnesses that an Asian man walked up to Navarro and fired several shots, then drove off in a black Honda Civic with two Asian men. The car had a lowered suspension, Monahan said.

Navarro had been hired by the homeowners to repair the home on Grannis, Monahan said, and he was installing a carriage light outside the garage.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or the Homicide Section at 229-3521. A reward of up to $2,000 is offered.

Body found near Glendale

Metro Police are investigating the discovery of a body wrapped in a sheet about 45 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Monday afternoon.

The remains were found by two Moapa Valley Power meter readers on the side of a road near exit 91 of Interstate 15 in Glendale, Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.

The age, gender and race of the body are not known, Monahan said. The remains do appear to be human, he said. Circumstances surrounding the find suggest the body is a homicide victim, he said.

The coroner's office will work to identify the remains.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or the Homicide Section at 229-3521.

Charges dropped against ex-officer

The mere act of calling yourself a cop when you are not one is not a crime.

That, coupled with the high cost of flying in witnesses to prosecute a gross misdemeanor, led to the district attorney's office last week dropping charges against a former Clark County corrections officer accused of impersonating a police officer.

Mark Bennish, who last year was convicted of voluntary sexual conduct with a female inmate at the Clark County Detention Center when he worked there in 2000, had been accused of flashing a badge in 2001 at a Strip resort.

"We would have to prove he defrauded someone," Deputy District Attorney Cheryl Kosewicz said. "An example would be 'don't tow my car, I'm a cop.' "

Kosewicz also said it would have cost Clark County in excess of $5,000 to bring in three witnesses from Chicago to prove the allegation.

Bennish, who was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in connection with the felony conviction of using his authority to force a female prisoner into a sexually compromising position, is free pending appeal.