News briefs for July 18, 2005

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 11:11 a.m.

Police investigate Strip slaying

Metro Police are investigating the Sunday night shooting death of a 19-year-old Las Vegas man outside the Fantasia souvenir store on the Las Vegas Strip.

Authorities found the victim, Derek Coleman, near his vehicle in the parking lot of the store at 2800 S. Las Vegas Blvd. shortly before 11 p.m., Sgt. Rocky Alby said. Coleman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses told police they saw a man walking away from Coleman's vehicle after the shooting. He is described as a black man with a thin build who appeared to be in his early 20s and is about 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Yucca dust suit allowed to continue

A federal class action lawsuit alleging that Yucca Mountain contractors didn't warn workers of the hazards of silica dust can go forward, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan denied a motion brought by Bechtel Corp. and others to dismiss the case, according to Mahan's office.

The suit, filed in March 2004, was brought on behalf of former Yucca Mountain employees who were involved in drilling at Yucca or who were allegedly exposed to silica in the Yucca Mountain tunnel.

One of the plaintiffs named in the suit, Greg Griego, worked at Yucca Mountain for almost a decade beginning in 1993 and was previously diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can include chronic bronchitis and emphysema and is caused by tobacco smoke as well as dust and chemicals, according to the federal National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Child hospitalized after drive-by

A 3-year-old girl is in critical condition after a drive-by shooting Sunday night on U.S. 95, Metro Police said.

A man was driving on U.S. 95 near Interstate 15 with three children in the back of his vehicle about 10 p.m. when two shots were fired by a passing vehicle, police said.

The man continued driving until he reached the Flamingo Road exit and pulled into a drug store parking lot, police said.

The child was taken to Sunrise Hospital in critical condition, police said.

The man and the other two children were not injured, police said.

Police were looking for a red Chevrolet Suburban bearing Minnesota license plates in connection with the shooting, officers said.

Shooting victim is identified

A 20-year-old Las Vegas man was shot and killed Saturday night behind an apartment complex in southeastern Las Vegas, Metro Police reported.

The victim has been identified as Derrick MacFarland.

Police were called to an apartment complex at 4450 Karen Ave., east of Lamb Boulevard, about 9:15 p.m., and found MacFarland dead in the back of the complex.

Police said the suspect in the shooting is a black man, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a stocky build. He was wearing a white, sleeveless T-shirt.

Suspect in stabbing sought

Metro Police are searching for a man suspected of stabbing another man to death Saturday night in an apartment complex near Paradise Road and Sahara Avenue.

Police said that just prior to the stabbing, the victim had been overheard arguing with someone in the parking lot of the complex in the 2600 block of Sherwood Street about 10 p.m.

The suspect is described as a black man about 25 to 35 years old, about 6 feet tall and thin. He ran from the parking lot before police arrived.

The victim's name had not been released this morning.

Man killed at school identified

The coroner's office has identified the 18-year-old man who was shot dead in the playground of an elementary school last week as Derrick Neal of Las Vegas.

Neal was found outside Matt Kelly Elementary School on J Street with a gunshot wound. Police said he was arguing with several people prior to the shooting. No arrests had been reported in connection with the shooting as of this morning.

Short causes fire

An electrical short caused a fire that destroyed the garage of a house near Green Valley Parkway and Warm Springs Road late Sunday afternoon, fire investigators say.

The damage is estimated to be $65,000.

When Henderson firefighters arrived in the 3100 block of Blossom Glen in Green Valley at about 4:15 Sunday, they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the garage and front patio areas of the house.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes, and there were no injuries.

Man rescued after fall at Zion

It took rescuers six hours to rescue an injured hiker who fell about 60 feet Saturday in Zion National Park, about 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas in Southern Utah.

Aaron Johnson, a 22-year-old Cedar City, Utah, resident, had been hiking in Telephone Canyon in Zion when he fell from Angels Landing. He suffered an injured elbow, and lower back and hip pain.

Rescuers were able to extract him from the bottom of the canyon by stretching a rope across the canyon and lowering a ranger 150 feet to reach Johnson. He was then taken by ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah.

This was the third major rescue this year at Zion, rangers said.