News briefs for April 12, 2005

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

Dad gets help reviving toddler

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue emergency medical dispatchers helped a father revive his 2-year-old child who nearly drowned in an apartment complex pool Monday afternoon, fire department officials said.

The father called 911 just before 4 p.m. after finding the child in the pool at their apartment complex near Rock Springs Drive and Washington Avenue. According to police logs, the call for help came from the 1100 block of Willow Tree Drive.

Dispatchers talked the father through the CPR procedures, and when Metro Police arrived the child was starting to come around, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The officers took over, and by the time the fire department paramedics arrived, the child was revived. The child was taken to University Medical Center and remained in critical condition this morning.

Rollover kills Las Vegas man

Alcohol and excessive speed appear to be to blame for a rollover crash that left a Las Vegas man dead and another two injured early this morning, Metro Police said.

Officers said the 1995 Mitsubishi coupe carrying the three men was traveling east on Washington Avenue near Sloan Lane about 1 a.m. today when it veered right and went onto a sidewalk before swerving left and landing on its roof.

One 19-year-old man, whose name was not released this morning, was thrown from the vehicle. He died at the scene. The other two passengers, 19-year-old Daniel Sullivan and 29-year-old Chad Leach, crawled from the car and were taken to University Medical Center with moderate injuries, said Metro Sgt. Tracy McDonald.

Because of conflicting information provided by Sullivan and Leach, it was unclear this morning who was driving, he said. A subsequent analysis of the crash scene is expected to determine who was behind the wheel, McDonald said.

Teen apparently kills self in jail

Officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a 16-year-old girl that occurred Monday afternoon at Clark County's juvenile detention center at 601 N. Pecos Road.

Detention staff, trained in CPR, attempted to resuscitate the girl in custody. They notified emergency rescue crews, county officials said.

Metro Police and staff from the coroner's office are investigating. Her name was not released this morning.

Administrators from the county's Juvenile Justice Services Department also are conducting a review of the incident.

"We are heartbroken over this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the family," Kirby Burgess, Juvenile Justice Services director, said in a statement.

The department's psychological staff are providing grief counseling to employees and youth at the facility.

Tour bus hits car; woman dies

A 42-year-old Las Vegas woman died Monday morning after a tour bus crashed into her car, Metro Police said.

The woman, identified by the coroner's office as Gaylene Deanne Miller, was turning left from eastbound Tompkins Avenue onto northbound Industrial Road when her 2005 Hyundai was hit by a 1998 MCI tour bus that ran a red light while heading south on Industrial, police said. Police cited the tour bus driver, Richard Nieto, 26, of Las Vegas for failing to stop for a red light. Police are still investigating the collision.

The tour bus belongs to Trans-Dapt Coachline of Cerritos, Calif., police said.

Council certifies primary results

The results of Las Vegas' Tuesday primary election were officially certified by the City Council on Monday.

Steve Ross, 42, general manager of an electrical contracting business co-owned by his wife, received the most votes with 1,489, or 31.6 percent, in the race for the Ward 6 seat on the City Council.

Running second and also moving onto the June 7 general election was Mary Gillins, 43, a legal assistant and operations manager for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union for Metro Police officers. Gillins received 1,291 votes, or 27.4 percent.

Ross and Gillins beat out nine other Ward 6 candidates to make it to a face-off in the general election, which begins with early voting from May 21 to June 3. The next best finish was Byron Goynes, a member of the city Planning Commission, who received 607 votes, or 12.9 percent.

Municipal Judge Cedric Kerns was re-elected in the only other race on the Las Vegas ballot.

Kerns received 2,757 votes, or 61.4 percent, in defeating attorney Mat Harter, who received 1,732 votes.

A man shot and killed Sunday night

outside a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant has been identified as 22-year-old Victor Contreras, the coroner's office said. Contreras' hometown was not available from authorities. Witnesses reportedly told police that two men ran out of an apartment complex near Lamb and Owens Avenue and exchanged gunfire.

The woman who plunged from the observation

deck of the Stratosphere last month did so intentionally, Metro Police and the Clark County coroner's office have concluded. Metro closed the investigation into the death of 36-year-old Melanie Bell of Birmingham, Ala., after the coroner's office ruled her March 25 death a suicide.