Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 | 9:21 a.m.
Driver, 20, killed in one-car crash
A 20-year-old Las Vegas man was killed Monday when the vehicle he was driving jumped a curb and struck a tree in northwestern Las Vegas, Metro Police said.
The Chevrolet Caprice was traveling west on Coral Shores Drive, near Cheyenne Avenue and Rampart Boulevard, when it crashed, police said.
Adrian Chuca-Reyes was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, police said.
It was the 88th fatal traffic accident in Metro's jurisdiction so far this year and the first over the Labor Day holiday.
Man killed while diving off cliff
A 32-year-old man from Ontario, Calif., died in a cliff-diving accident on Lake Mohave about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, the National Park Service said.
Erik Stuart Middleton jumped from a 35-foot high cliff in an area known as Gasoline Alley, Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said.
Witnesses told park rangers that he flipped 360 degrees and hit the water at an odd angle and then failed to surface.
Park Service rangers, Bullhead City Police Department and the Bullhead City Fire Department dive team assisted in recovering the body found in 41 feet of water. The Arizona Game and Fish and Nevada Department of Wildlife also assisted in the recovery.
Gasoline Alley is located about three miles north of Katherine Landing on the Arizona side of Lake Mohave. This is the 16th fatality at Lake Mead National Recreation Area this year. At this same time last year there had been 14 fatalities.
Man arrested in hit and run
North Las Vegas and Metro Police arrested a man in connection with a hit-and-run accident three hours after another man kneeling in the roadway on East Lake Mead Boulevard was hit by a car and killed.
North Las Vegas officers found Michael Mitchell, 48, in the eastbound lanes of Lake Mead near Las Vegas Boulevard just after 8 p.m. on Friday.
Paramedics were requested, but the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said a white 1991 Buick four-door was driving erratically at high speed and struck the pedestrian, dragging him about 137 feet.
The Buick then fled east on Lake Mead and south on Las Vegas Boulevard North, police said. Witnesses following the vehicle wrote down a license plate number.
About 11 p.m. Metro Police found the vehicle and driver near Campbell Avenue and Palomino Lane just west of downtown Las Vegas.
Marcelino Lopez-Bello was arrested on charges of fatal hit and run as well as numerous other charges. Police believe alcohol may be a factor in the collision, police said.
Any witnesses are urged to contact the North Las Vegas Police Department's Fatal Investigation Team at 633-1743 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
Prison escapee found in Phoenix
A 37-year-old prison inmate from Clark County, who escaped from the Warm Springs Correctional Center in Carson City on Aug. 16, has been captured in Phoenix.
Reginald Becker was picked up by police in Phoenix on a misdemeanor charge, Fritz Schlottman, offender management administrator of the state Department of Corrections, said Friday. He said Becker would be extradited to Nevada.
Becker was serving a 48- to 120-month term for burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon. He disappeared while on a work crew at the perimeter of the prison about two miles from downtown Carson City.
Second group wants to recall Moncrief
A second group aiming to recall Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief has filed a notice of intent to recall.
The notice was filed with the Las Vegas city clerk late Friday by the Ward 1 Cleanup Committee, a group that announced its intentions earlier this week but was beaten to the punch by a group of residents still steaming over losing a battle that gave developer Irwin Molasky the right to build a Social Security building in their neighborhood.
That group is considered to have a better chance at gathering the 2,100 signatures needed to set a recall election in motion.
Both groups have complained that Moncrief is inaccessible and lacks authority on the council. In addition, both have referred to her indictment Aug. 5 on charges of falsifying campaign reports as an issue.
Standoff ends with man's arrest
A 34-year-old Henderson man said to be upset with his ex-wife, barricaded himself inside an apartment in the 1100 block of South Eastern Avenue and it took five hours for police negotiators to defuse the situation, according to Henderson Police.
Police say a man began discharging a 9mm semiautomatic handgun in his apartment about 1 a.m. on Monday.
The man did not surrender to patrol officers and the Henderson SWAT and crisis negotiation teams were called to assist.
About 6 a.m. the SWAT team entered the apartment and took Henry Howell into custody without incident, police say.
Howell was changed with discharging a firearm within the city limits and has been booked into the Henderson Detention Center.
Warming trend expected this week
After snowflakes fell above 8,300 feet in the Spring Mountains and raindrops sprinkled the Las Vegas Valley on Friday, the Labor Day weekend turned warmer and drier.
Neither snow nor rain was measurable, National Weather Service meteorologists said. Observers reported their results to the Weather Service in Las Vegas.
Temperatures are expected to stay in the upper 90s to low 100s through Thursday, and more moisture is expected to push into Southern Nevada late Wednesday through Thursday.
There is a chance of an afternoon thunderstorm, mainly in the surrounding mountains, through Thursday, Weather Service forecasters said.
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