In Brief
INTERSTATE 15 ACCIDENT
Las Vegas man killed in single-vehicle crash
A Las Vegas man was killed early Friday in a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 15.
The man, whose name was not available, was the front passenger in a 1987 Nissan Pathfinder that was traveling northbound in the left lane of the interstate.
The tread on the right rear tire separated, allowing the Nissan to drift across the paved inside shoulder and enter the center dirt median at 5:53 a.m., according to Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Kevin Honea.
The driver steered the sport utility vehicle to the right, causing it to rotate to the right and overturn.
The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was taken to University Medical Center; his condition was not available Friday.
The death was the 14th this year from accidents on Southern Nevada highways.
U.S. HIGHWAY 95 CRASH
Second teenager dies after Feb. 13 accident
A teenager has died from injuries suffered in a Feb. 13 accident on U.S. Highway 95.
James English, 17, was taken to University Medical Center after the accident, where he died Wednesday. Another passenger in the single-vehicle rollover, 16-year-old Zoey Roanoke, died several hours after the 5:35 a.m. accident.
English and Roanoke were in the back seat of a Scion sedan heading south near Durango Drive when it drifted off the shoulder, veered back across the highway and rolled into the median.
Neither were wearing seat belts and were thrown from the vehicle, according to Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Kevin Honea.
ARIZONA ROBBERY-MURDER
Man is third convicted in teenager's slaying
A Golden Valley, Ariz., man was convicted Friday in the robbery-related murder of a Kingman teenager.
A Mohave County jury deliberated more than five hours before finding David Srout, 31, guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery and hindering prosecution.
Prosecutor Jeremy Huss said Srout and three co-defendants killed Christopher Marcus, 18, in August 2005 to steal $6,000 he had received in an insurance settlement. Marcus was struck in the head with a crowbar and smothered with a pillow, and his throat was slit with a knife.
Two of the co-defendants are serving prison time for their roles in the crime, while a fourth awaits trial. Sentencing for Srout, who faces a prison term of 25 to 45 years, is scheduled for April 3.
PLEDGES SICKENED BY RAW MEAT
Fraternity at UNR suspended for hazing
A fraternity at the University of Nevada, Reno has been slapped with a two-year suspension for hazing.
The university took the action after the local Alpha Tau Omega chapter was accused of hazing pledges by branding their buttocks with dry ice and making them eat raw poultry.
The hazing came to light in December after as many as 11 pledges sought treatment at the student health center after eating uncooked chicken or turkey, said Sally Morgan, the university's director of student conduct.
The pledges were diagnosed with campylobacter, a food-borne illness required to be reported to the county health department, Morgan told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The students were questioned during a campus investigation in January when they returned from their winter break.
Morgan said fraternity members used dry ice to etch the Greek letter omega, resembling an upside down U, on pledges' buttocks.
Matt Shuckerow, a spokesman for the fraternity, said the suspension has been appealed.
ALCOHOL-RELATED FIRING
UNR officer should get job back, official says
A state hearing officer has determined that a University of Nevada, Reno police officer fired last year after a second alcohol-related incident should get his job back.
Kevin Youngflesh was arrested in 2004 on suspicion of drunken driving in an unmarked police car. He was fired in December after a fellow officer filed a complaint last summer over a 2006 incident.
The complaining officer said Youngflesh had called him at the campus police station asking for a ride home from Sparks because he had been drinking.
Bill Kockenmeister, the state personnel hearing officer, said that the officer waited eight months after the incident before filing the complaint and that Youngflesh's actions did not warrant punishment as severe as dismissal.
"He wasn't on duty, and it is a normal policy for an officer to pick up other police officers when they shouldn't be driving," Kockenmeister said.
COMPLAINTS OF UNDERSTAFFING
UNR police officers seek chief's ouster
Some University of Nevada, Reno police officers have lodged a letter of no confidence against campus police Chief Adam Garcia, calling for his termination.
The letter, signed by 10 of the department's 16 officers and four sergeants, was delivered this week to university administrators, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Ron Cuzze, president of the Nevada State Law Enforcement Association, which represents the officers, said the officers complain of being ill equipped and understaffed.
"Adam Garcia says his department can take care of anything if there were a shooting there," Cuzze said. "How can you do that when you have two officers on a shift? That's what this whole thing is about."
Garcia said the claims in the complaint are erroneous.
"Two is the very minimum number of officers we have on shift at any one time," he said.
University President Milton Glick said he would look into the complaints but had not seen the letter and could not comment on the claims.
