Leprechaun in Las Vegas to test crosswalk safety

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Police officers in a leprechaun costume will frolic Las Vegas streets to test whether drivers yield to pedestrians.

UNLV Safe Community Partnership chief Erin Breen says police will hand out tickets Tuesday to motorists who fail to stop for the green-clad pedestrians crossing streets.

Fines can run $190 and up.

Pedestrians can also be ticketed for trying their luck crossing streets outside a crosswalk.

Breen says pedestrian deaths in Clark County are up 50 percent so far this year.

The St. Patrick's Day enforcement comes after a costumed turkey tested drivers in November, and Santa trolled crosswalks around Christmas.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)