News briefs for April 5, 2004

Monday, April 5, 2004 | 11:29 a.m.

Pedestrian hit by vehicle critical

A pedestrian hit by a sport utility vehicle Saturday on Charleston Boulevard remained in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning, a hospital official said.

Eleuterio Espinoza-Rojas of North Las Vegas was struck by a 2002 Kia Sportage about 1 p.m. while crossing Charleston Boulevard outside the crosswalk about 14 feet west of Cimarron Road, police said.

He stepped into the path of the Kia, driven by Flaviana Guerette, 41, of Las Vegas. There were three passengers in the Kia, two were 15 years old and the other was 5, police said. They were not injured.

Police are still investigating the accident.

Early turnout high in BC recall

The three days of early voting for the Boulder City recall election saw almost 400 more voters go to the polls than the 11 days of early voting leading up to the June general election, the mayor said.

Some 2,990 voters cast ballots during early voting Thursday through Sunday, according to the city clerk's office.

Mayor Bob Ferraro said he expects the recall election, which wraps up with voting on Tuesday, will post a higher voter turnout than the June 3 general election. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ferraro beat former City Councilman Bill Smith by 18 votes in June. The recall election features a rerun of the Ferraro-Smith race. The recall ballot also pits Councilman Mike Pacini against retired businessman Arn McLean.

During early voting for the June general election 2,603 people voted. Another 1,932 voters cast ballots on June 3, and 455 cast mail-in ballots, according to Clark County voting records.

Smith said that he, too, thinks turnout will be higher in this election, adding that 1,350 Boulder City voters cast ballots on Thursday, the first day of early voting.

Guilty plea made in tax case

A former Las Vegas home developer pleaded guilty Friday to filing a false income tax return in 1995, costing the federal government more than $174,000.

Steven William Rebeil is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11 and faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to court records, subcontractors added $500 to $1,000 to the price of the work they did on the homes Rebeil developed. Rebeil then used these credits in the building of his personal construction projects, such as his Spanish Trail home.

Rebeil, who used six different companies to build homes, received an income of about $622,200 from these credits and did not report this income on his tax return, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney's office said.

The two Metro Police officers involved in the shooting Thursday of a gunman in the parking lot of the Eureka Casino have been identified as 36-year-old James Breed and 28-year-old Sasha Kaster.

The officers were at a nearby business on East Sahara Avenue when they heard cries for help. They ran to the casino parking lot and found Rolando Lappin-Mendez, 51, who was trying to drive out of the parking lot.

Moments earlier Lappin-Mendez had shot and killed a casino patron, 51-year-old Lester Staniowski. The gunman was pointing a gun at a casino bartender when Staniowski intervened, police said.

Lappin-Mendez got out of the car when he saw the officers and pointed a gun at them. Breed and Kaster both fired, hitting the gunman. He died at the scene.

Breed, who has been with Metro for 12 years, was involved in two non-fatal shootings in 1996 and 1998.

Kaster has been with Metro for five years and has not been involved in any shootings.