Local News Briefs for September 30, 2005

Friday, Sept. 30, 2005 | 10:27 a.m.

Boy, 13, hit by car, in critical condition

A 13-year-old boy was in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning after being hit by a car on Desert Inn Road about 1 a.m., Metro Police said.

Juan Perez was running across the street just east of Decatur and outside a marked crosswalk when he was hit, police said.

Heather Regester, 26, of Las Vegas tried to avoid the boy by braking and swerving her 2003 Nissan Altima, but the front of the car struck him, police said.

Police said it appeared that Perez was at fault, so no charges had been filed against Regester as of this morning.

Mattress catches fire at San Remo

A mattress caught fire in 10th floor room at the San Remo hotel, 115 E. Tropicana Ave., about 8:15 a.m. today causing some water damage at the hotel from the sprinkler system, the Clark County Fire Department reported..

About 10 rooms on the 10th floor were temporarily evacuated, but no one was hurt, officials said.

Arrest made in murder case

A 19-year-old man whom Metro Police allege killed another man on Wednesday was arrested Thursday afternoon.

Walter Raymond Freitas Jr. was booked into the Clark County Detention Center and charged with murder in connection with the death of 33-year-old John Joseph Ohriner.

Ohriner was found dead from a gunshot wound in the head Wednesday morning in a room at Terrible's hotel at Paradise and Flamingo roads. Officers who responded to a call from hotel security reporting a disturbance in one of the hotel rooms said Freitas was the last person to see him alive.

According to court records, Freitas had pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and possessing stolen vehicles in January.

Driving guide offered for teens

As tougher laws on teenage driving go into effect, the Department of Motor Vehicles is releasing "The Nevada Beginning Driver Training Guide."

Department Director Ginny Lewis said Thursday the publication "and the new laws will help teenagers get through their first years of driving safely."

The department said the 48-page manual goes over specific skills and lessons to help parents teach their children how to drive safely. The booklet is being distributed statewide to the offices of the DMV and it will be online at www.dmvnv.com/teens.

Aviation program receives awards

The aviation program of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Site Office was awarded top honors recently by both the Energy Department and the General Services Administration.

The aviation program, operated by Bechtel Nevada at the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Nellis and Andrews Air Force bases, recently won the Federal Aviation Award for small programs, those with 20 aircraft or fewer, for 2004.

The award honors the safest, most efficient and effective federal aviation operations, federal officials said. The Nevada program provides a platform for rapid aerial emergency response to a nuclear or radiological accident or incident.