IN BRIEF
ELECTRICAL WIRING
Blaze at apartments displaces nine people
Investigators blamed electrical wiring for a fire at an apartment building on Martin Luther King Boulevard near U.S. Highway 95 that displaced nine people Thursday morning.
Las Vegas firefighters were dispatched about 6:16 a.m. to the Rancho Verde Apartments at 98 S. Martin Luther King Blvd. after one resident reported smoke coming from a heater unit.
When firefighters arrived, light smoke was billowing from the upstairs units of a two-story, wood-frame, stucco apartment building that had 16 units. Eight units were affected by the fire, four of which were vacant.
The fire caused $200,000 in damage.
Fire investigators said the fire was accidental, started by wiring between the walls of two apartment units.
The nine people displaced by the fire were receiving aid from the American Red Cross.
MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS
Shooting victim was North Las Vegas man
A man found fatally shot in his home Dec. 21 has been identified as 29-year-old Orrick Jonathan Lang of North Las Vegas.
North Las Vegas police arrived about 2:50 p.m. at Lang's residence in the 5800 block of North Valley Road near Rancho Drive and Carey Avenue after receiving a call about a person who was possibly dead.
Police found Lang's body but would not say how long the victim had been dead or where he was shot.
The Clark County coroner's office said Lang was killed from multiple gunshot wounds. As of Thursday afternoon, nobody had been arrested in connection with the slaying, said Mark Hoyt, a spokesman with North Las Vegas police.
ARMED ROBBERY ALLEGATIONS
Judge gives schedule in O.J. Simpson case
A judge revised a schedule for court filings in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case but stuck to plans for a March 7 hearing on the legality of the charges against Simpson and two other men.
Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass told lawyers representing Simpson, Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich that they have until Jan. 31 to file motions.
The judge gave prosecutors until Feb. 21 to respond. The trial remains set for April 7.
Defense lawyers have said they need time to sift through 1,200 pages of transcripts filed Wednesday.
Ehrlich's lawyer, John Moran Jr., said he is looking for conflicts in testimony and evidence to use against the witnesses who testified against Simpson and the others.
CALIFORNIA ARREST
Police say LV teen aimed laser at plane
A Las Vegas teen who was testing one of his Christmas presents was arrested in Newport Beach, Calif., and accused of aiming a laser pointer at a jetliner, a commuter bus and a police helicopter.
The pilots of a Skywest Airlines plane and the police helicopter reported the laser incident Tuesday night.
Police Sgt. Evan Sailor said officers aboard the helicopter traced the laser beam to a Newport Beach home where the 15-year-old Las Vegas boy was staying with relatives. The boy was given the laser as a Christmas present.
The incident was the third laser-related arrest in Orange County this week. Two men were arrested earlier and accused of aiming laser devices at an Orange County sheriff's helicopter.
KINGMAN, ARIZ., INCIDENT
Beaten woman dies at Las Vegas hospital
An elderly Kingman, Ariz., woman found badly beaten in her home late Christmas night died Wednesday afternoon at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. The Mohave County sheriff's office identified the victim as Anna Hammonds, 80.
Spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said Kingman police discovered Hammonds' 1988 Chevrolet S-10 pickup in flames about 11 p.m. Tuesday. Officers went to her home six blocks away, finding her unconscious inside.
Edwards said the home, in the 4200 block of Irving Road, had been burglarized. She said Hammonds was flown to Las Vegas for treatment of blunt force injuries to her head.
Edwards said that Hammonds spent part of Christmas with family and that investigators are trying to determine when she was attacked.
