No. 1 in vehicle thefts a ‘dubious distinction’

Clark County has landed atop the list of worst auto-theft areas in the nation.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau said Monday that the county had the country's highest rate of auto theft in 2006. It moved up from its second-place ranking in 2005.

"I make no excuses for it. We're at No. 1, and it's a dubious distinction," said Lt. Robert Duvall, who heads the Las Vegas police's auto-theft unit.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that 22,441 vehicles were stolen in Clark County last year, a rate of 1,311 stolen for every 100,000 residents that year.

Officials have said the Las Vegas Valley is a good place for car thieves because of the population growth and high number of parking garages and parking lots.

About a quarter of the vehicles stolen in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County are taken by professional car thieves who often run "chop shops" that take apart vehicles and sell the parts, Metropolitan Police Department officials said.

The remainder of the cases are "transportation thefts," cases in which vehicles are stolen to get from one place to another.

Those cases include not just "joy rides," but cars stolen for use in other crimes.

MONDAY

Icahn cashes in casino investment

Corporate raider Carl Icahn, who snapped up several Southern Nevada casinos at discount prices, is selling them and booking a handsome profit.

American Entertainment Properties Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Icahn's American Real Estate Partners, announced it has agreed to sell the parent company of the Stratosphere, both Arizona Charlie's casinos and a Laughlin casino for $1.3 billion to Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Icahn said in a statement that American Entertainment Properties expects to realize a gain of $1 billion from the sale of American Casino & Entertainment Properties.

TUESDAY

Deportations likely after brothel busts

Most of the 25 women found in neighborhood brothels during last weekend's bust in Las Vegas are here illegally and will most likely face deportation, authorities said.

Las Vegas police and federal authorities raided nine locations April 21, most in the area of Arville Street and Spring Mountain Road.

The raids concluded a two-year investigation into a prostitution ring with ties to Asia.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Doll House, netted eight arrests.

WEDNESDAY

Freed inmates to get deported

The state Pardons Board voted to release early 45 non-U.S. citizen prisoners, who will be deported by the federal government.

The illegal immigrants are the first prisoners the Pardons Board has released early to relieve overcrowding in state prisons. An estimated 1,065 of the state's 13,000 inmates are in the country illegally.

The Pardons Board intends to hold monthly hearings to evaluate releasing nonviolent inmates who are in the country illegally before they are eligible for parole. The release would be to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. All of the 45 ordered released were eligible for parole before July 27.

THURSDAY

First smoking ban citation imminent

The Southern Nevada Health District will respond to more than 2,000 public complaints of smoking violations by issuing its first citation, officials told the Review-Journal.

One business will be dragged into civil court and faces a $100 fine. Officials wouldn't give the name of the culprit.

But it is one of eight businesses that received letters from the Health District documenting their failure to comply and indicating they have been the subject of numerous public complaints.

The businesses were sent letters between April 6 and April 20 for failing to post no-smoking signs or for not removing smoking paraphernalia such as ashtrays.

FRIDAY

Graffiti gangs turning violent

Violent crimes are becoming more common among the hundred-plus graffiti gangs in the Las Vegas Valley, authorities told the Review-Journal.

No longer confined to spray painting symbols and monikers on the sides of buildings or along freeway walls, graffiti gangs throughout the valley have stepped up their activity to include street robberies, drug dealing and shootouts with their rivals, police said.

"They're not just artists looking for a canvas," said Capt. Al Salinas of the Metropolitan Police Department's gang unit.

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES

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