Hundreds of thousands ring in 2013 in Las Vegas

By Ric Anderson, Brian Nordli, Conor Shine, Dave Toplikar, Jackie Valley

Published Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 | 2 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 | 2:35 a.m.

With fireworks, fanfare and frivolity, Las Vegas once again showed the world Monday night how to put on a New Year's Eve party.

Dancing, drinking and smooching as the final seconds of 2012 slipped away, the 300,000-plus New Year's Eve revelers on the Las Vegas Strip braved sub-freezing temperatures to toast the first few ticks of 2013.

At the stroke of midnight, fireworks — both real and virtual — also erupted at the Fremont Street Experience in the city's downtown, where some 25,000 people gathered. Couples kissed, cameras snapped, bells rang and champagne glasses clinked together in toasts to the New Year.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman and her husband Oscar, the former mayor, hugged onstage.

The Goodmans, flanked by two showgirls, had just led the countdown for the elbow-to-elbow crowd assembled near the 3rd Street stage at the Fremont Street Experience.

Oscar Goodman energized the gathering with a quip about how he gets to sleep with the mayor, getting laughs and cheers.

"You know, every year, when I come down here for New Year's Eve, I am amazed how Las Vegas is really the greatest city in the history of the world," he said. "Is there any place better than Las Vegas? Is there any place better than Fremont?"

A few blocks to the south, on the Las Vegas Strip, hundreds of thousands of revelers counted backward from 10, saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to the fledgling new year.

Their cheers were punctuated with loud blasts from the overhead fireworks show, which shot synchronized blasts of colorful pyrotechnic sprays from casino tops up and down the Strip. While the fireworks lit up the night, the more romantic revelers shared kisses and hugs.

The end of the fireworks sent thousands scrambling to escape the sub-freezing cold, causing bottlenecks that clogged Las Vegas Boulevard as they tried to hurry back into the warmer surroundings of the casinos.

As of 2 a.m., Metro Police reported the celebration "remains orderly," but that there were also at least two incidents involving firearms.

Police said a disturbance inside Circus Circus involving a weapon led to the arrest of Manuel Garciahill.

Garciahill, a 20-year-old North Las Vegas man, was taken into custody by Circus Circus security officers with the assistance of two tourists, police said. Garciahill will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon. Police said there were no injuries reported with the incident.

Officers also said a man in the northeast part of the Las Vegas Valley was injured when a round believed to be fired in celebration of the new year struck him while he was inside his mobile home. The man was transported to an area hospital for his injuries, which were not life-threatening, police said.

Officers also said they had six arrests during the evening from within the Strip corridor, including two that were for domestic violence.

Metro's Downtown Area Command, which covers Fremont Street, reported about 10 misdemeanor arrests. Officers said there were also 10 DUI arrests and one misdemeanor traffic arrest associated with the New Year's Eve celebration.