Friday, August 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PRELIMINARY HEARING: Truck driver bound over

Faces charges in officer's death

Michael Reich, who is accused in the death of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was riding a bike in Red Rock Canyon in a hit-and-run crash, is comforted by his attorney, Christy Craig, during his preliminary hearing in Clark County Justice Court on Thursday. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

A truck driver who struck and killed an off-duty officer on a bicycle told police he fell asleep moments before the crash. When he woke up, he swerved to miss two burros in the road and then hit the officer, he told authorities.

Michael Reich, 27, gave that account to Department of Public Safety investigator James Hayley after his arrest in the death of Las Vegas Officer Don Albietz, 45, in July.

"He, in fact, stated he was driving the vehicle that was involved in the accident," Hayley testified during Reich's preliminary hearing Thursday.

Reich is charged with reckless driving, leaving the scene of the accident and assault with a deadly weapon as a result of the fatality on state Route 159.

Authorities say Albietz was riding his bicycle on the side of the road when Reich struck him from behind with his tractor trailer. Reich then fled the scene, according to authorities.

Hayley, testifying in the courtroom of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle, said he interviewed Reich three days after the accident, and Reich attributed the crash to exhaustion.

"He said he had been working many hours prior to driving from Pahrump. ... He dozed off, and he thinks he may have fallen asleep," Hayley said. "When he opened his eyes, he thought he saw two burros in the road."

Reich told officers he swerved and "knew he had struck something. He thought it was a (mile marker) sign," Hayley said.

Reich said he got out of the vehicle, then panicked when he learned someone had been hurt, so he jumped back in his big rig and fled.

But other witnesses said there were no burros in the road. Lyle Segal said he was driving behind Reich's truck at the time of the crash and saw the vehicle move to the left of Albietz, then swerve back to the right and strike the officer.

Segal immediately stopped and he and two occupants of his car tried to render aid.

"He (Albietz) was breathing very erratically," Segal said. "I thought after he got hit like that, he'd be dead already. But he was still hanging on.

"The first thing he (Albietz) said was, `The race is over.' He said that three times," Segal recalled. "He said his back was hurting. He told us how many kids he had. We were just trying to keep him conscious."

Another witness, Joseph Foppiano, said he approached Reich's truck after the accident and started to ask Reich to use his radio to call for help when Reich immediately jumped back in his truck and sped away.

A third witness, Michael Sterling, said he then jumped in Segal's car and chased Reich to get his license plate number.

Once Sterling caught up with Reich's truck and wrote down the license number, he tried to pull alongside Reich's truck to get a name off the cab of the vehicle. Reich then tried to run Sterling off the road while the two were driving at estimated speeds of 90 mph, Sterling said.

"I tried to pass him to get a trucking company name ... and he just swerved directly over," Sterling said.

Reich's attorney, Clark County Deputy Public Defender Christy Craig, declined comment on the allegations against her client.

Reich was bound over to District Court by Oesterle after Thursday's hearing. Reich is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26, and he faces up to 27 years in prison if convicted on all charges.