Friday, October 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

IN BRIEF

BODY IN BURNING APARTMENT

Police investigating mysterious death

Las Vegas police are investigating the mysterious death of a man found dead Wednesday evening in a burning downtown apartment.

The name of the 54-year-old man was not released.

At 7:42 p.m., firefighters were summoned to the Park Avenue Apartments on a report of a fire, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Upon arriving at the complex at Seventh Street and Carson Avenue, firefighters saw nothing suspicious. A manager unlocked one of the apartments for firefighters, and they found the residence filled with smoke.

Within a few feet of the door, firefighters found a man lying on a bed. He was unresponsive, Szymanski said. He was transported to University Medical Center while firefighters extinguished a small blaze inside that caused only $5,000 damage.

The man was pronounced dead at the hospital, but his cause of death was unclear. Szymanski said he had not suffered burns.

Investigators found a smoke alarm inside the apartment, but Szymanski said it was unclear whether it was operating properly.

The incident remains under investigation.

STREET RACE

Man killed in crash, two people injured

A street race between the drivers of two sports cars caused a crash that killed a 19-year-old man and injured two other motorists Wednesday, police said.

Marlon Rodriguez was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at the 7:15 p.m. accident in downtown Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police Detective Corey Moon said Rodriguez, in a 1983 Mazda RX-7, was racing 38-year-old Fernando Aviles, who was at the wheel of a 1981 RX-7.

As the men sped east on Bonanza Road from Las Vegas Boulevard, Rodriguez lost control of his car, police said. The vehicle rotated clockwise at the intersection of Seventh Street and entered westbound travel lanes, Moon said.

The vehicle slammed into a van carrying Robert Ryder, 38. Ryder and a passenger in Rodriguez's vehicle, 18-year-old Carla Talavera, were transported to University Medical Center.

Talavera was seriously injured, Moon said, and Ryder suffered minor injuries.

Although police said the cause of the accident appears to be street racing, which is illegal, no charges have been filed in the case because the accident is still under investigation.

HIT BY CAR

Two girls remain in critical condition

Two 13-year-old girls remained in critical condition Thursday after being struck by a car in a residential neighborhood south of Las Vegas.

Adriana Lauzon and Tabatha Speas were taken to University Medical Center following the 6:30 p.m. accident in Southern Highlands, near Interstate 15 and Lake Mead Drive.

Las Vegas police Detective Doug Nutton said Lauzon and Speas were walking across Shinecock Hills Street at Tucci Street. The driver of a vehicle traveling west on Shinecock Hills saw the girls and slowed to allow them to cross.

But Summer Larkin, following behind that vehicle in a Volkswagen Jetta, passed when the vehicle slowed and did not see the girls, police said. The front of Larkin's car struck the girls and threw them several feet, Nutton said. Larkin stopped her car.

Paramedics flew the girls by helicopter to the hospital.

Police said it was unclear whether Larkin, 24, would face charges in the accident.

DISABLED IN ACCIDENT

Man wins $3.6 million in suit against CAT

A man who suffered a serious back injury in an accident involving a Citizens Area Transit bus won a $3.6 million verdict from a Clark County jury Thursday.

Walter Odinas, 71, was driving his car near Lamb Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road on June 8, 2002, when a CAT bus pulled in front of him, according to Odinas' attorney, Bob Vannah.

Odinas sued and on Thursday he won the verdict against the bus' operator, ATC Vancom. The jury determined the defendant and the bus driver were 90 percent negligent in the crash, while Odinas was 10 percent negligent.

The jury in the courtroom of District Judge Michael Douglas reached the verdict after an eight-day trial. An attorney who represented ATC Vancom could not immediately be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon.