John Katsilometes tells the story of a good Samaritan who came to the rescue of a California family

Friday, Aug. 11, 2006 | 7:49 a.m.

This dispatch from Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard begins with what was not dispatched - a taxicab.

"We were on the north side of Las Vegas, and we called every cab company we could think of. Nobody could respond," said Mary Stratton, a resident of Bakersfield, Calif., who visited Las Vegas with her husband, Bob, and 9-year-old grandson Alexander Maese on the weekend of July 15-16. "We begged and pleaded, but no one could come out and get us. I was being told it was a big fight weekend." (Shane Mosley knocked out Fernando Vargas at the MGM Grand that night.)

On that Saturday afternoon, July 15, the fuel pump on the Strattons' Jamboree Searcher RV had crapped out on Craig Road in North Las Vegas. They were towed to Nevada Transmission & Auto Repair, a new vehicle maintenance shop owned by our hero, Hector Ramirez, at Bonanza and Lamb.

As the Strattons attempted vainly to find a ride from Ramirez' shop to the Luxor (where they had managed to book a room as this saga unfolded), Ramirez went to work attempting to locate a fuel pump for a crippled Jamboree Searcher.

It wasn't easy. It took about five hours for Ramirez to actually locate and replace the faulty part. After making several calls, he finally reached an Auto Zone at Decatur Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road that had the right fuel pump in stock. "We sat in the 110-degree heat in the mechanic's shop from 5 o'clock until about 10:30 p.m.," Stratton said. "But Hector and his two assistants (Jesus Chavaria and Jose Velasco) were off-duty and worked tirelessly until they got us back on the road.

"They were our angels in Las Vegas."

Epilogue: About 5 p.m. Thursday I called to check on Ramirez. He was in a hurry - "I cannot talk right now. I have a guy who broke down on the interstate, and I need to be done by 7 o'clock." Why 7 p.m.? He responded, "I have to be at church." Too good to be true, almost.

NoteMart

For the second straight year Caesars Palace is hosting the Comedy Festival, scheduled for Nov. 14 to Nov. 18. The event closes Nov. 18 at the Colosseum with the 20th anniversary of "Comic Relief," starring Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams (who should be out of rehab and have some riveting new material by then). The Festival has signed on through 2008 at Caesars; information is at www.thecomedyfestival.com. ...

A posting on Craig's List by a person "in or around Las Vegas" is for the brother of Mel Gibson's dog. Seriously. The person claims to have received a dog from a friend of Gibson, and that he is indeed of the same litter as the canine owned by Gibson. He (the dog) is said to have a microchip, all of his shots and is "irresistible." ...

Ticket prices for the second installment of "Vegoose 2006" are posted on the festival's Web site (www.vegoose.com) . The festival runs from Oct. 27 through Halloween, and the listed ticket price of $146.50 covers the two-day festival at Sam Boyd Stadium on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. Add the $13.55 service fee and $6 "facility fee" for each ticket and the price is $160.05. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 10 at vegoose.com, with tickets to the series of nighttime shows (called "Vegoose at Night") to be posted at a later date. The announced acts include the Killers, making their first Vegas appearance after the release of "Sam's Town" on Oct. 3. The full list of performers is on the festival Web site, which also notes that among the items allowed into Sam Boyd are "strollers with child inside." Evidently at music festivals, strollers can be used to cart all sorts of materials, and even adults. ...

If you're at the Forum Shops at Caesars on Saturday, so is celebrity Chef Masaharu Morimoto, the original Japanese "Iron Chef," who will conduct a daylong food-preparation festival called "Simon Super Chefs Live!" Those in attendance will be able to rub oven mitts with the celebrated chef and watch a series of cooking competitions matching chefs from throughout the Forum Shops and Caesars Palace. The event begins at noon and wraps about 5 p.m. ...

Not sure if the driver was a Cuban bandleader, but a green Honda Accord carries the vanity plate ILVLUCI.