Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 31

evada Today's tip Friday Section 2C OBITUARIES 3C VITAL STATISTICS 4-1 7C CLASSIFIED Registration for UNR's second summer session will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Old Gym and from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Office of Admissions and Records. Details: 784-4063.

JULY 11, 1986 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 'Vicious' dog attack prompts lawsui of a ferocious, vicious and mischievous disposition and accustomed to attack and to bite." The suit also accuses Pitzer of allowing the dog to run at large. Pitzer has pleaded innocent in Reno Municipal Court to a misdemeanor charge of allowing the dog to run loose. The animal shelter had records of earlier attacks by the pit bull against other dogs and an incident in March 1985 where he bit a man that got into a dispute with Pitzer in Pitzer's former home in Sparks. The suit said Schum is liable because he had notice of the "dangerous propensities" of the dog and failed to remedy the "dangerous situation" by evicting Pitzer. the only wording allowed in state court.

But Geoffery White, attorney for the Wrights, said he would seek damages "substantially in excess" of that amount. "He (Jason) has been disfigured, he's been scarred, both physically and emotionally," White said. "It was just a vicious attack." He said the family has already incurred "several thousands of dollars" in medical expenses without insurance to cover the wounds and there will be further expense, including plastic surgery. The suit says Pitzer is liable for damages because he "wrongfully kept a dog, namely a pit bull, well known to him to be Norwegian jets collide near Nellis LAS VEGAS Two Norwegian Air Force F-16 jets collided in midair during aerial war games Thursday, but both pilots escaped serious injury, the Air Force said. One of the planes crashed close to the small town of Rachel about 125 miles northwest of Las Vegas, but the pilot ejected safely and was returned by helicopter to Nellis Air Force Base for treatment of minor injuries.

Nellis spokesman John Kuminecz said the other plane and pilot returned safely to Nellis. Lincoln County Sheriff Larry Wilkinson said the downed fighter jet crashed near Rachel, but no one was injured. He said he was unsure how close it came to a populated area because of poor communications from the crash site to his office. Both planes were assigned to the 332nd Squadron, Rygge Air Base near Moss, Norway. The planes and pilots were participating in Red Flag, simulated combat training exercises held five times a year at the Nevada base.

By Michael PhlllisGazettfrJournal The mother of an 11-year-old Reno boy mauled by a pit bull has filed suit against the dog's owner. The complaint filed late Wednesday in Washoe District Court said young Jason Wright "has been permanently injured, disfigured and damaged; has suffered excruciating pain and mental anguish and has incurred medical expenses of a continuing nature, all in excess of $10,000." The suit named as defendants the owner of the dog, Jeffrey Pitzer, and the owner of the home at 2745 Kings Row, John Schum of Reno, who was renting the house to Pitzer. Debra K. Wright, acting HOME ENDANGERED: Reno Fire h- catch a breath of fresh air Thursday while battling a brush fire threatening a home Holliday's inheritance in By Michael PhillisGazettfKJournal A Reno judge ordered the final distribution of the estate of murder victim Mary Holliday on Thursday, but the lion's portion designated for her son will be held in receivership until a suit alleging he killed his mother is settled. Washoe District Judge William Forman ordered that the estate, property valued at more than $200,000, be distributed to Craig Holliday with a restraining order signed by another judge that requires him to put the property in a receivership at First Interstate Bank.

Washoe District Judge Jerry Whitehead signed the restraining order and set an on behalf of her son, is the plaintiff. Jason was walking in front of Pitzer's home June 27 when the dog, "Buddy," attacked him. Jason suffered numerous deep bite wounds to the leg, buttocks, shoulder, hand and chest before a neighbor choked the dog nearly unconscious to get him to release his grip. The Animal Control Center destroyed the dog with a lethal injection Wednesday on a court order that Pitzer did not fight. Pitzer, an unemployed pressman, said he had no comment on the lawsuit.

Schum, a casino pit boss, could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit asks for "in excess of $10,000" in general and punitive damages, Department firefighter Butch Miller tries to Aug. 15 hearing date to determine if a wrongful death suit filed by Holliday's two sons from a former marriage has merit. The suit filed Wednesday on behalf of John and Peter Holliday, 12 and 14 years old respectively, accused Holliday of bludgeoning his mother to death in June 1985. The suit was filed despite a Reno jury acquitting him of the murder charges May 15.

The suit said Holliday committed the murder to prevent the 60-year-old Sparks Middle School teacher from writing a will that would have cut him off from any inheritance and given her estate to her grandsons. into acid-spill on some trucks at the former Delta Lines site at 1750 Industrial Way. Investigators said Gierlich appeared startled by dark fumes that boiled up, and he dropped his pail of acid. Washoe County Coroner Vern McCarty said Thursday a preliminary autopsy indicated Gierlich died both of skin contact with the acid and inhalation of fumes. The Washoe County Health Department on Thursday inquired into the reason it took the company four to five hours to report the accident and acid spill.

But Carl Cahill of the department's environmental services division said the company probably was within the spirit of OK 11 I I Pat DavlsonGazetle-Joumal the home's back fence, but was con- Pipe-bomb extortion try at Bally-Vegas ends in arrest By Jane Ann MorrisonGazette-Joumai LAS VEGAS A Colorado man suspected of planting a pipe bomb at Bally's Grand-Las Vegas was arrested Thursday and will be charged with extortion today, FBI spokesman Tom Nicodemus said. A bomb was found about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday after a caller demanding $200,000 told Bally security guards they should look at a certain chair in the resort's sports and race book. The bomb was removed from that chair and later detonated in the desert. John William Fechenbach, 41, of Evergreen, was arrested at a phone booth on the Las Vegas Strip at 4:45 p.m.

Thursday following a series of telephone calls, Nicodemus said. He was armed with a .357 magnum but was arrested without incident. No one else is being sought in connection with the case. The pipe bomb found by the guards was made of black powder and a fuse placed inside a pipe. It did not have a timing device, according to bomb squad official Dan Thomas.

Only a few people were in the sports book at that time, according to resort spokesman Stephen Allen. The casino was not evacuated during the incident. Embezzler faces sentence CARSON CITY A lengthy sentencing hearing opened Thursday for Michael Zook, who pleaded guilty to five of 79 felony counts alleging he embezzled more than $236,000 from a local business where he worked as controller. District Judge Lester Berkson conducted the hearing, which opened with testimony from several witnesses for the defense and prosecution. Zook, 35, admitted to $45,965 in embezzlements from Carsonite International Corp.

He could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each of the five counts. Zook was accused of embezzling the funds while working as controller for Carsonite between late 1980 and mid-1983. Court looking for lawyer Officials of the Reno Municipal Court say they are searching for controversial lawyer Ralph Crow, who owes $1,700 for traffic violations and failing to appear in court. Crow has been cited for a number of violations such as driving without insurance and has been fined. But he hasn't paid up.

Crow is also awaiting sentencing next month in federal court on his misdemeanor conviction involving his tus-sel with a federal marshal in a courtroom. Crow had filed for Carson City District Attorney, but was removed from the ballot because his license to practice law has been suspended for 18 months. United Way exec chosen C. Marshall Mast, chairman and chief executive officer for the subsidiaries of First Federal Savings and Loan, has been appointed as a member of the United Way of Northern Nevada volunteer campaign cabinet. A graduate of the University of Nevada-Reno, Mast will serve as commercial division chairman for the fund drive to support more than 40 non-profit health and human care services.

This year's campaign goal is $2.16 million, an 8 percent increase over last year. Crash leaves 1 dead WINNEMUCCA Geraldine Sutliff 80, Napa, died Thursday when the car she was riding in overturned on U.S. 95 about 66 miles north of Winnemucca. The Nevada Highway Patrol said Sutliff was thrown from the vehicle. The driver, Barbara J.

Adams-Chester, 55, Napa, was not injured. Her husband, Lowell Chester, 61 of Napa, suffered minor injuries. Fatal accident near Fallon FALLON Lewis Holtz, 66, Portland, died Wednesday when his car skidded out of control and vaulted into a ditch off U.S. 50 near Fallon. Holtz was alone in the car at the time.

Boy drowns at Tahoe TRUCKEE A 3-year-old Eugene, boy died at Tahoe Forest Hospital late Thursday after apparently falling from a pier into Lake Tahoe. The accident happened at about 4 p.m. off West Lake Boulevard in Placer County. Nevada County Deputy Sheriff Steve Schnittger said victim Colin O'Fallon had been playing on the pier with other children in two family groups. "He disappeared only for two to five minutes when they found him face down in the water about 45 yards from the pier," he said.

An adult in the group started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which was continued by paramedics until they reached the hospital. But the boy was pronounced dead two hours later. Wire service and staff reports at 2195 Olympic Circle. The fire destroyed tained before reaching the house. receivership Without a will, her only son, Holliday, a 40-year-old former world-class skier, inherited her entire estate under Nevada law.

Mrs. Holliday's body was found after Holliday called police to check on her welfare, saying she failed to go to school or to call him that morning to set a luncheon time as the two had planned. A Washoe County grand jury indicted him on murder charges, but the prosecutor failed to prove the case. Based on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution tried to show the murder resulted from See HOLLIDAY, page 2C i 4. it- A MX? Pat Davi8onGazette-Journal death starts the law if not the letter.

According to Sparks police, the company's first concern was getting Gierlich to Sparks Family Hospital and then cleaning up the acid. One thing the company did wrong was fail to get a business license, Police Detective Darrell Jones said. But he said the city will not take any legal action against the company. He said the city attorney will notify the company by letter that if it intends to conduct further business it must get a license. That, Jones said, is the normal procedure when someone is found operat )i i CATCH OF THE DAY: Travis Humphreys, 16, left, shows participating in a youth fishing class at Idlewild Park spon-off his fly-casting form Thursday to the rest of the students sored by the Reno Fly Shop Inc.

Dallas' fingerprints found in house, its owner reports By Wayne MeltonGazette-joumai A Eureka woman said Thursday FBI agents told her they found escaped killer Claude Dallas' fingerprints in her home, which was bombed Tuesday in an attempt to capture the fugitive. "They said they found all kinds of fingerprints of Claude," said Anna McKay, 56, who had been away from the house with her husband, Richard McKay and son when agents raided the home at dawn. Dave Spencer, supervising agent at the FBI's Reno office, declined to discuss McKay's claim, saying he could not comment on an ongoing investigation. In 1982, Dallas was convicted of manslaughter in the 1981 quick-draw-style deaths of Idaho game wardens Bill Pogue and Conley Elms. He escaped last Easter after serving four years of a 30-year sentence.

Just four hours after storming the home, agents stopped the McKays while the family was en route to the house from their ranch 40 miles south of Eureka. While questioning the family beside the road, agents told the trio "he was in our house" and that they had proof fingerprints, Mrs. McKay said. See CLAUDE, page 2C Investigation By Phil BarberGazette-Journal The Nevada Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the acid-burn death of a man cleaning trucks in Sparks Wednesday, an official said Thursday. Jim Barnes, director of the Department of Industrial Relations, said the agency's findings will not be made public because the law requires results to be released only to the company or an employee.

Victim James D. Gierlich, 22, of Portland, was employed by Miller's Pressure Washing Service of Portland. Gierlich was fatally injured as he was mixing hydroiluoric acid and other chemicals that the company intended to spray ing without a license. i.