News briefs for November 10, 2004

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

Shots fired in Palms parking lot

Witnesses in the Palms parking lot reported shots fired this morning from two sports utility vehicles driving recklessly near the Arville Street entrance, Metro Police said.

One of the SUVs collided with a parked vehicle on Arville about 5:20 a.m., Metro spokesman Jose Montoya said. The driver inside the car was not injured, nor were any bystanders hurt by the gun shots.

Shell casings were found at the scene, Montoya said.

Witnesses said one SUV fled northbound on Arville and the other fled southbound, Montoya said. Police have not been able to identify the vehicles or individuals involved.

Human skull found in park

Two women walking dogs in a northwest Las Vegas park reported finding a human skull this morning, Metro Police said.

Metro Police Officer Jose Montoya, police spokesman, said they called police about 7:15 a.m. after spotting the object at Mountain Crest Park on Lone Mountain Road near Durango Drive.

Homicide detectives and officials with the coroner's office were investigating this morning.

Boys-Girls Club hit by fire

The Boys and Girls Club in North Las Vegas was damaged by fire this morning, officials said, forcing the club to cancel after school activities.

The blaze appears to have started in the kitchen and might have been sparked by in an oven that had been left on overnight, a club spokesman said.

Firefighters on their way to another fire spotted the fire at the club on Las Vegas Boulevard at Carey Avenue about 5 a.m.

No one was inside the building at the time, and no one was hurt, authorities said.

The Boys and Girls Club was expected to conduct a community meeting this morning to discuss alternative locations for that club's after school programs.

More than 190 youth between the ages of 5 and 18 participate in activities at the center every day, according to a statement released by the organization.

Paiute chief tabbed as next marshal

Las Vegas Paiute Tribe Police Chief Theodore Quasula will be nominated as the next U.S. marshal for Nevada.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he will make the recommendation of Quasula to President Bush. If the president accepts the recommendation Quasula will replace Richard Winget, who retired from the marshal post earlier this year.

"Ted Quasula has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience and has served our citizens with distinction," Ensign said. "Ted's lifelong commitment to law enforcement, his professionalism and his incredible experience make him an extremely qualified candidate."

Man arrested in LV to face sex charge

A Georgia man who was arrested last month in Las Vegas is expected to be returned to Pittsburgh this week for arraignment on a federal charge of crossing state lines to have sex with a teenage western Pennsylvania girl he met on the Internet, federal authorities said.

Derrick Ian Kenrick, 49, of Rome, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, the FBI said Tuesday.

Authorities said Kenrick met the Chartiers Township girl, then 13, two years ago over the Internet. He told the girl that he was 19 and said he wanted to marry her, then showed up at the girl's home in August. Authorities said the girl's parents let him stay at their home for a week, after which he found an apartment nearby. During that time, he began a sexual relationship with the girl, now 15, the FBI said in an affidavit filed with the charges.

The girl told the FBI she considered Kenrick her boyfriend and received her father's permission to marry him after she finished high school. The girl's parents ended the relationship after Kenrick became "too controlling" and he left in September after sending a threatening message, the FBI said.