IN BRIEF

THREE PEOPLE INJURED

Highway Patrol investigates fatal accident north of LV

State troopers are investigating the cause of an accident north of Las Vegas that killed one person and injured three others Thursday afternoon.

Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Chelita Rojas said the vehicle rolled over into the shoulder of southbound Interstate 15 at mile marker 69 about 1:15 p.m. One person was thrown from the vehicle.

The three passengers who were injured were taken to University Medical Center. Their names and conditions were not available.

HEART PROBLEMS CITED

Coroner: Las Vegas city jail inmate died of natural cause

A 56-year-old man who was found dead in a Las Vegas city jail cell in December, died of a natural cause, the Clark County coroner's office reported Thursday.

Roger Lee Williams was found dead Dec. 3 by jail officials. The coroner's office reported he died from a dilated cardiomyopathy, which according to the American Heart Association, occurs when the heart is enlarged and stretched. This causes the heart to weaken and not pump normally.

Williams was arrested Dec. 1 on allegations that he solicited a pedestrian on a roadway, a city of Las Vegas spokesman said.

Williams' city of residence had yet to be determined as of Thursday.

OFFICIAL-LOOKING LETTERS SENT

AG warns Nevadans about property tax lowering scam

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is warning homeowners of a scam claiming to be able to lower property taxes.

Masto said official-looking letters from a group calling itself Homeowners Property Tax Review claims it can save a homeowner hundreds of dollars on property taxes -- for a fee of $179. The letter also states recipients must sign and return the form within two weeks.

Masto said the letter is similar to a phony notice sent out in August by a group calling itself the Property Tax Review Board.

JOGGER DEAD

'Person of interest' in slaying kills self; roommate missing

Police in Glendale, Ariz., investigating the shooting death of a jogger said a man who was a "person of interest" in the case killed himself Thursday in California after a 10-hour standoff.

Detective Mark Lankford of the Glendale Police Department said 48-year-old Greg Hawkins barricaded himself in a home north of Eureka, Calif., refused to surrender and eventually took his own life.

Hawkins was a "person of interest" in the Dec. 21 slaying of 57-year-old Cynthia Ann Langrall. Hawkins' roommate, James Jay Keefer of Peoria, Ariz., is missing but isn't a suspect in the killing. Keefer's car was found at the scene where Hawkins killed himself.