News briefs for October 6, 2004

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

Suspect sought in S&R shooting

Metro Police are looking for a 31-year-old man in connection with a drive-by shooting Sept. 21 at the home of Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn.

Police allege that Cole Murdoch Ford fired a shotgun six times at the entertainers' property on Vegas Drive near Decatur Boulevard, breaking windows and leaving a 12-inch hole at the house.

According to police, Ford yelled a derogatory phrase at the property as he shot.

"He said something to the effect of, 'We need to get these (expletive) out of our country,' " Officer Jose Montoya, a Metro spokesman, said.

Ford faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and six counts of discharging a weapon from a moving vehicle, Montoya said.

On 911 tapes released Tuesday, a man says he was working in the property's yard when he heard an explosion.

"There's glass everywhere ... I think that's what I got hit in the face with because I felt something sharp," he said.

He declined medical treatment.

Police describe Ford as white man, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds with brown hair and eyes. He was seen driving a white Chevrolet Astro van with Nevada plates.

Justice Center still isn't complete

Construction on the Regional Justice Center was expected to be complete Sept. 30. Like so many dates before it, that has passed as work continues on the overdue, over-budget building.

Project manager Randy Walker said the building contractor, AF Construction, did not give a new completion date but said the building would be finished soon. Walker expects that to be before the second week of November.

The 17-story building at South Casino Center and Clark Avenue will house city and county courts, with the Nevada Supreme Court occupying the top floor. The move-in process will take six months.

Walker said he recently walked through the building and that it is getting much closer to completion. It looks done, he said, but "There are back-of-the- house issues that you don't see walking through the building."

The Regional Justice Center was expected to open in 2002 and cost $170 million. It is over budget at $185 million.

Part of the blame for the delay, Walker said, lies with a state policy of contracting with the lowest -- but not necessarily the best -- bidder.

Car, tractor-trailer collide; man killed

A man was killed when an automobile and a tractor-trailer collieded about 2 p.m. Tuesday at Las Vegas Boulevard North and Nellis Boulevard, Metro Police said.

The name of the 53-year-old Henderson man was not released after he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Metro traffic officers said evidence at the scene and witnesses indicate the 1989 Freightliner tractor driven by Antonio Villalobos, 49, of Las Vegas was making a left turn southbound from Las Vegas Boulevard to southbound Nellis on a green light.

A 2004 Cadillac Deville northbound on Las Vegas Boulevard failed to stop at a red light, officers said.

Pedestrian struck by motorcycle

A 55-year-old Las Vegas man crossing Smoke Ranch Road was in critical condition after being hit by a motorcycle about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, Metro Police said.

Vui Vong was crossing from the north side to the south side of Smoke Ranch when he was struck by the front of a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle driven by Paul Scherer, 25, of Las Vegas.

Vong and Scherer were taken to University Medical Center. Scherer suffered moderate injuries, police said.

Car hits man outside crosswalk

Metro Police are investigating an accident that critically injured a 51-year-old Las Vegas man Tuesday evening.

John Lewis was crossing Charleston Boulevard near Eastern Avenue outside a marked crosswalk when he walked into the path of a 2000 Mitsubishi, witnesses told police.

The driver, 17-year-old Ashley Thompson of Las Vegas, braked and tried to avoid the pedestrian, but the front of her Mitsubishi hit him, police said.

Lewis was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition, authorities said.

The cause of the accident appears to be pedestrian error, police said.

Motorcyclist dies after accident

A 27-year-old Pahrump man was killed Tuesday afternoon when he lost control of his motorcycle at a Las Vegas intersection.

The man was driving a 1996 Kawasaki westbound on Twain Avenue about 2 p.m. when he sped up and tried to pass a slower car to the right of him, police said.

The motorcycle hit a curb, fell on its side and slid down the sidewalk, police said. The motorcycle then hit a light pole on the sidewalk, ejecting the driver.

The motorcycle continued to slide and collided with the driver's side of a Toyota Camry that was stopped at the intersection on Procyon Street, police said.

Driver rear-ends tractor-trailer

A man was seriously injured Tuesday afternoon after he rear-ended a tractor-trailer on Interstate 15 at Cheyenne Avenue.

The man was driving a white pickup truck, which was towing a trailer filled with tile, northbound on I-15 when he made an unsafe lane change and collided with the back of the trailer, Nevada Highway Patrol spokeswoman Angie Chavera said. The man was apparently speeding at the time of the collision, she said.

The driver of the pickup truck was taken to University Medical Center for serious injuries, Chavera said.

The collision caused tiles from the pickup truck to scatter onto the roadway "making a really big mess," Chavera said.

I-15 northbound at the Cheyenne Avenue exit was closed for about three hours while debris was cleared.

Two injured in collision with truck

A woman was injured and another person was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon after the car they were in collided with two trucks at a North Las Vegas intersection.

Jacqueline Oliver was eastbound on Centennial Parkway in her a burgundy 1997 Ford and had stopped at the stop sign at Losee Road, but then continued through the intersection without yielding the right-of-way, police said.

A pickup truck, driving northbound on Losee Drive, collided with the passenger side of the Ford and sent the vehicle into the front end of a construction truck, police said.

Oliver was injured, and her passenger suffered critical head injuries, police said.

Witnesses sought in car-wash killing

Metro Police are asking anyone who might have been at the Sparkels car wash early Saturday morning to come forward because they could be a witness to a homicide.

Police allege that 54-year-old Albert Cota intentionally ran over his 78-year-old wife in a stall at the self-serve car wash about 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

Anyone who was at the car wash at that time is asked to call the homicide office at 229-3521.