Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

1 Pope lends support to evolution theory, 2A Grambling, Robinson facing problems, 1C DO'S AND DON'TS RULES I A setback in relationships between men and women, 1 Metro edition Jackson, Mississippi Friday October 25, 1996 Tn BATING Cause still mystery in fatal I 20 crash Jackson police investigation rules out speed, but transportation I 1 mm rn i.jn.r it don't said. "I know how anyone (goJgLgj Accident site Raymond Rd. VOV Jackson I iLS I SCALE IN FEETV fuW lo gooql Crime show leads to tips, Hinds arrest Jackson callers, Unsolved Mysteries help police find fugitive. By Pamela Berry Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Last week, he was on national TV. This week, thanks to Unsolved Mysteries and some folks from Jackson, a Texas fugitive is behind bars.

David Gentry Coleman, 39, of La Porte, Texas, was captured by the Hinds County Fugitive Task Force about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Tarrymore Motel on U.S. 80, offi By Arnold Lindsay Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Jackson police say they don't know what caused a Sept. 28 accident that killed four Mississippi College students on 1-20 at Valley Street. But they have ruled out speeding, hydroplaning and mechanical error.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Burkes, on the other hand, says he thinks speeding likely caused the crash and several others on the strip of interstate. "(Police) could no more rule out speeding than I could," Burkes could rule out hydroplaning." Burkes also insisted driver error may have caused some of the accidents. He said without witnesses, no one could be sure what caused any of the wrecks. Twenty other accidents have been recorded at the 1-20 curve since 1992. Five people, including the Mississippi College students, have been killed.

Tim Corbitt, a Jackson police accident investigator, said the department's investigation was conclusive about what didn't cause the fatal accident. He said: Year Accidents Injuries Deaths 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 7 2 5 2 4 2 3 0 2 1 Source: Mississippi Department of Transportation Pushing the Republican ticket 4 .1 official not so sure mm T1 1 i.t. t) Tread-wear tests revealed the Ford Tempo's tires were in good condition. A flattened rear tire on the car likely occurred when it went across the concrete wall and onto Valley Street. Tire marks went into the grass about 115 feet west of the guardrail, indicating the car was out of control at that point.

The car struck the guardrail 55 feet west of the concrete retaining wall and traveled about 50 feet along the guardrail before careening off it. The vehicle then became airborne and landed 30 feet below on See CURVE, 9A Police kill man, touch off rioting in Florida Mob sets fire to businesses, vehicles after traffic stop shooting. By Lisa Holewa Associated Press Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. A rock- and bottle-throwing crowd of several hundred people set fire to businesses and vehicles after police fatally shot a man during a traffic stop Thursday evening.

At least 11 people were injured, including two of-' fieers. The riot involved more than 200 people and continued to rage late Thursday night even as more than 130 officers carrying plastic shields and other riot gear barricaded streets to contain the violence. Several buildings were burning out of control as the violence kept firefighters away, and thick black smoke clouded the predominantly black area several blocks south of downtown. Groups of youths ran back and forth in the night, aiming at the officers as well as businesses and passing cars. "It's just utter chaos," said a police dispatcher who refused to be identified.

"We have officers injured, quite a few of them." The White House expressed immediate concern about the riot "We're making inquiries of local officials for an assessment of the situation," White House press secretary Mike McCurry said from New Orleans, where he was on a campaign trip with President Clinton. Three hospitals near downtown treated and released 11 people with minor injuries, including two police officers. A dispatcher said one officer was shot in the arm, but the wound wasn't serious. The shooting that sparked the violence happened after two officers stopped a car with two people inside about 5:30 p.m., Tampa television station WTVT reported. The car lurched forward, hitting one of the officers, and the officers opened fire, striking the driver of the car, the sta-i tion reported.

The unidentified man died before reaching Bayfront Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Hundreds of people in the neighborhood began gathering, some shouting and throwing things at officers. "Where the big mistake was when the police put the riot gear on," said one area businessman who asked not to be identified. "That's when all hell broke loose. As soon as it got dark that's when all hell broke loose." I Tests revealed the Ford Tem po carrying the students was likely traveling below the posted 50 mph speed limit as it approached the curve.

"The only speed calculation I could get was below the 50-mile speed limit," Corbitt said. A day after the accident, Jackson police used two fire engines to pump 1,000 gallons of water at the wreck site to recreate the accident conditions. The water immediately left the roadway, showing proper drainage and ruling out hydroplaning as an accident cause. ed: "No American citizen should be permitted to go on foreign soil in time of war and demonstrate against his own country! "So wave your Clinton-Gore signs back there. That's the candidate that you're representing." After the rally, Will Ainsworth of Richland praised Gingrich and Fordice.

"I was in the Marine Corps when Clinton was first elected," said Ainsworth, 27. "I got out because I didn't want to serve under a commander-in-chief like that." Clinton supporter Frances Rodman, 74, of Jackson said Gingrich has no credibility. "I thought it was all a bunch of hogwash," she said. was planned several months ago, said Elbert Hilliard, the agency's executive director. Hilliard and others said they learned during the dinner that Lynn was an acquaintance of Jim Belisle, president of Minnesota-based Multi Gaming Management and the top promoter of the controversial casino project on the Big Black in Warren County.

Lynn said this week that Belisle See DINNER, 9A ft U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (center) talks with Gov. Kirk For- dice on Thursday during the Victory '96 rally at the Capitol. In the Gingrich rallies GOP Brian Albert BroomThe Clarion-Ledger background is Sen. Thad Cochran.

Gingrich slammed Democrats and lobbied for the Dole-Kemp ticket and Mississippi's GOP candidates. faithful in Mississippi cials said. Coleman is charged with three counts each of aggravated sexual assault against two children under the age of 14. The alleged assaults occurred April 5, 1994. S.

Roberts, a deputy with the Harris County Sheriffs Department in Houston, Texas, said the department received several tips about Coleman's possible whereabouts after Unsolved Mysteries Coleman aired a bulletin Oct. 18. The report appeared on WLBT-TV 3, the local NBC affiliate. Coleman was being held in the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond on Thursday. He will remain there pending his return to Texas.

"I was at the telecenter in California when they aired the segment. We followed up on tips that came from your area and notified the authorities there that he may be in Jackson," Roberts said. Coleman's mother, Roberts said, was a former resident of Long Beach. Sgt. John Holmes, with the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, said locating Coleman took some work.

"The task force literally had to check half a dozen places. They had to run this guy down. He had received word that the law was after him, and he was getting ready to leave," said Holmes. "Without those tips, more than likely, he would have never been caught." The task force included officers from the Hinds County Sheriffs Department, the U.S. Marshal's Service and the Jackson Police Department.

Mary-Pat Carney-Davis, Unsolved Mysteries phone city manager, said the report about Coleman was featured as a special bulletin. "We put up several pictures of Coleman. Our phone correspondent then talked about his various offenses and showed what he looked like. We fielded a number of calls about him from your area," Davis said. The call leading authorities to Coleman came Wednesday afternoon.

"My understanding is that someone contacted authorities first and police went out to check him out Friday night, but because of the alias he was using, they didn't take him into custody," Carney-Davis said. "But when the information came into us, it was very solid and told us where he could be found." An update about Coleman's arrest will air Nov. ffshe said. Coleman was the 143rd fugitive captured as a result of bulletins airing on the show. "Our percentage rate for capturing fugitives profiled is about 40 percent," Carney-Davis said.

House speaker stumps for five Republicans seeking U.S. House seats. By Emily Wagster Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Working a crowd Thursday at a Republican rally in Jackson, U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted President Clinton as having "the most scandal-ridden, shamelessly dishonest administration." "Where other administrations when faced with a problem would clean it up, they simply cover it up," Gingrich, told a cheering crowd of about 200 on the behavior," Gingrich said. Gingrich urged support for U.S.

Sen. Thad Cochran and the five Republicans seeking U.S. House seats in Mississippi. Cochran and three Republican congressional candidates Danny Covington of the 2nd District, Chip Pickering of the 3rd and incumbent Mike Parker of the 4th sat with Gingrich and Gov. Kirk Fordice.

About 20 Clinton-Gore supporters waved signs at the back of the crowd and Fordice singled them out. Contrasting Clinton's lack of military service with Dole's World War II wounds, Fordice pointed at the Clinton supporters and shout south lawn of the state Capitol. In a 35-minute speech, Gingrich praised the Republican Congress for cost-saving measures. Waving an empty plastic ice bucket, he said Republicans in 1995 stopped four-times-daily ice delivery to House and Senate offices. And Gingrich slammed Democrats for accepting campaign contributions from wealthy Indonesians.

"I do not believe, in the end, when voters walk in the booth and think about it, that the honest, law-abiding, hard-working citizens of America are going to find it possible to vote for four more years of this kind of corrupt Black River. During the dinner, the officials said, they learned the home was owned by an acquaintance of the casino promoter. There was no connection between the dinner and the decision, the officials said this week. Preservation officials were considering the project's impact on a THE State officials deny dinner linked to casino decision Owner of mansion an acquaintance of Big Black casino project promoter. By Bruce Raid Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Top state historic preservation officials gathered for dinner at a Holly Springs mansion the night before they reversed their opposition to a casino and auto-racing complex planned along the Big Civil War battlefield east of Vicks- burg.

Seven members of the state Department of Archives and History's board and two top staff officials were among 50 guests at Walter Place, a temporary home of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his family during the Civil War. The dinner at Walter Place, a distinctive home with massive white columns and twin octagonal brick towers owned by Mike Lynn and his wife, Jorja, FORECAST IHDEX SNICKERS 0: For convenient home delivery of The Clarion-Ledger, call 961-7200 or 1-800-222-8015, Rain and thunderstorms likely today, with highs near 70. Chance of rain tonight with tows in the 50s.

Ann Landers 3E Cryptoquip 3E Opinion 10,1 1A Bridge 3E Deaths 2B People 2A Business 10B Horoscope 3E Southern Style 1E Calendar 2E Jack Sunn 3E Sports 1C Classified 5C Jumble 3E State Metro 1B Comics 4E Movies 5E Stocks Crosswords 3E News You Can Use 2E TV Tonight 6E Volume 1601 No. 251 16 sections 56 pages CoriTight 1996 HEALTHY CONSCIENCE We need to eat more healthy meals Instead of just for taste Because a lot of food these days Just simply goes to waist. Charles Ghigna Weather, 12A Extension J200.