Judge recovers from heart attack

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Warren Van Landschoot had a heart attack and angioplasty surgery Sunday night, and on Monday the judge said he is feeling better than he has in a long time.

Van Landschoot, 58, said he expects to leave the hospital Wednesday or Thursday and plans to return to the bench next Tuesday. Alternate judges will fill-in during his absence.

The judge's wife, Lynn Van Landschoot, said her husband of 38 years hadn't been feeling well for about two weeks. In recent days he displayed some of the telltale signs of heart trouble, including numbness on one side of his body and a squeezing feeling in his chest, she said.

Then around 6 p.m. Sunday, the judge said he was feeling nauseous and his blood pressure, taken on a home machine, was very low, so she called 911.

The judge was taken by ambulance to MountainView Hospital, where he remains. About 8 p.m. Sunday the judge had the angioplasty to remove a piece of plaque that was obstructing an artery, she said.

Van Landschoot said he felt much better as soon as the surgery was over.

"I feel great. I haven't felt this good in a long time," he said.

His wife said: "He has no side effects. He is just normal. I can't believe it."

The judge had a tumor removed from his heart in 1990, but otherwise has had no heart problems, his wife said.

The judge said the ordeal has caused him to rethink his diet.

"My diet's going to change. I'll cut down on the salt," he said.

Van Landschoot was a North Las Vegas Police officer for 28 years, rising to homicide detective before running for judge and winning in 1997. He is now in his second term on the bench.

Van Landschoot said as far as he knows he is the only judge in the state who is not an attorney.

Municipal courts handle traffic violations and misdemeanors, such as drunken driving cases, domestic assaults and minor drug violations. The maximum penalty in Municipal Court is a $1,000 fine plus six months in jail per charge.