News briefs for Feb. 3, 2004

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 11 a.m.

Car hits girls crossing street

An 11-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was was hit by a car about 7:15 a.m. today while trying to cross Lake Mead Boulevard in North Las Vegas with her 13-year-old sister.

Officer Justin Roberts, a North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said the two girls had crossed three lanes on Lake Mead outside the crosswalk at Civic Center Drive, and then stepped in front of a 1994 green Ford Taurus. The driver, 26-year-old Rene Montiel, hit the brakes but still hit both girls, Roberts said.

The 13-year-old girl was grazed and slightly injured. The 11-year-old was thrown onto the hood and went through the windshield, Roberts said.

The cause appeared to be pedestrian error, Roberts said. The 13-year-old girl was treated at University Medical Center and released. The 11-year-old was listed in serious condition today.

Shotgun fired in club wounds man

One man was arrested and another was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the arm after a shotgun was fired inside Deja Vu Showgirls at 3247 Industrial Road this morning, police and a club manager said.

The boyfriend of a dancer had carried the shotgun into the club in a bag, and as he pulled it out, he was tackled by club security guards, a club manager said.

During the struggle the gun was fired and some of the pellets struck the club valet in the arm. The injuries are not life-threatening, Metro Police Officer Enrique Hernandez said.

Metro officers were called, and the man with the gun was taken into custody, Hernandez said. His name had not been released this morning.