No injuries reported in NLV shootout

Thursday, May 26, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

At least 20 bullets whizzed through morning traffic Wednesday during a shootout in which nobody was reported injured, North Las Vegas Police said.

Police spokesman Tim Bedwell said occupants of a Ford Expedition and a Mercury Grand Marquis exchanged gunfire at the corner of Lake Mead Boulevard and Civic Center Drive around 8:50 a.m.

He said police, including an assistant police chief arriving to work, followed the cars and arrested the three men in the Ford. The two men in the Mercury were able to flee on foot.

Plutarco Diaz-Himenez, 29, was the driver of the Ford and its two passangers were Miguel Guerrero-Franco, 20, and Juan Vega-Gamboa, 27, Bedwell said.

Police said all three men are Mexican citizens, and Diaz-Himenez had an Arizona address.

Bedwell said the three men face charges including shooting from a vehicle and shooting in public. Police recovered three handguns, at least one of which was stolen.

"It kind of smells of drug activity -- the circumstances, the amount of cash in the vehicle," Bedwell said of the shootout.

Nobody was reported injured despite the amount of gunfire.

"Often it's the innocent bystanders that get struck by this gunfire. These people don't care about anybody," Bedwell said. "We're really happy nobody got hurt."