News briefs for October 4, 2004

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Man arrested in wife's death

A 54-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested Saturday after his wife's body was found in the parking lot of a northwest Las Vegas car wash earlier that morning.

The body was discovered at a car wash in the 3900 block of South Durango Drive near Twain Avenue about 6:30 a.m., police said.

Police said the woman died after someone intentionally struck her with a car. Her name was not released this morning.

Albert Cota was arrested Saturday afternoon on charges of murder, police said. Cota's Toyota 4-Runner was also impounded, police said.

Officer's cycle is rear-ended

A Metro Police officer was injured early Saturday morning when the motorcycle he was riding was rear-ended while he was waiting at a stoplight in southeast Las Vegas.

Officer Christopher Holmes, 28, had just stopped at a red light on Reno Avenue near Giles Street when a Ford Focus, driven by 57-year-old Gretchen Cormack of Las Vegas, collided with the rear of the officer's marked Harley Davidson motorcycle, police said.

The motorcycle was knocked forward into the back of a stopped Nissan 350Z, police said.

Holmes was taken to University Medical Center for moderate injuries, police said.

No one else was injured in the collision, police said.

Man slain in attempted robbery

Metro Police are searching for two masked men who shot one man to death and critically wounded another during an attempted robbery about 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

Metro officers and paramedics arrived in the 1600 block of Lamont Street and found two men wounded from gunshots.

Both men were taken to University Medical Center's Trauma Center, where Raul O. Melgarejo, 32, of Las Vegas was pronounced dead. The other man, a 25-year-old, was taken to surgery and was in critical condition, according to police.

Two additional victims, who were not injured, told police that two black men in their late teens or early 20s with dark clothing and wearing dark blue masks approached them and demanded money.

The men ran from the parking lot and approached a fifth victim standing beside his car a block west of the shooting.

The two masked men tried to take the fifth man's car, but left on foot with only the car's key, Sgt. Kevin Manning of Metro's homicide section, said.

Henderson fires called suspicious

Henderson fire investigators are looking into two suspicious fires at homes under construction in the area southwest of the Las Vegas Beltway near Paradise Hills and Horizon Ridge.

The latest blaze early Friday morning was the second home under construction in the same area to go up in flames in the past two months, a fire official said.

Henderson firefighters arrived at 12:30 a.m. to find the house engulfed in flames, Battalion Chief Randall Jones said.

The home was ready for stucco application, and roof beams were loaded with tiles ready to install, Jones said. Damage was estimated at $300,000 and the house, surrounded by empty desert, was completely destroyed.

A total of 29 firefighters fought the blaze.

Another home under construction within a mile of the first burned in August.

Anyone with information on either of the two fires is asked to call 267-2220.