5 hospitalized after northwest valley bus stop crash
A car crashed into a Las Vegas bus stop and sent five people to the hospital Saturday night, Metro police said.
The driver of a Nissan Pathfinder, who police said was speeding, lost control about 5:42 p.m. and crashed into the bus stop in the northwest valley near Rainbow Boulevard and Balzar Avenue, near Smoke Ranch Road. The sport utility vehicle struck three people, police said. It was seen sitting atop the bus bench later Saturday night.
Witness statements said the vehicle moved onto the sidewalk and hit two children and an adult, according to Metro Sgt. Richard Strader.
The mother of the two children suffered serious injuries, one child had a broken foot, and the other suffered head injuries. They and the male driver and female passenger of the vehicle were taken to University Medical Center. Police had reported earlier that six people were hospitalized.
The grandmother was with the mother and children but was not struck by the car.
Employees at China A GoGo restaurant across the street were among the first to react to the accident. After seeing the collision, employees said they rushed outside to see what was wrong.
“It was pretty scary,” said Jessie Wang, an employee at the restaurant. “It’s the first time something like that has happened around here.”
The driver of the Pathfinder was arrested for prior outstanding traffic warrants, police said. He had not been charged with any crimes related to the crash as of 8:30 p.m. Strader said if they released him Saturday night, he would be booked.
Metro’s fatal unit was on the scene.
“We’re a distracted society. When you’re on the road, you need to have your wits about you,” Strader said. “This was totally avoidable.”
Rainbow, from the U.S. Highway 95 northbound exit to Smoke Ranch, was closed.
Traffic was being diverted through the parking lots of the shopping centers along Rainbow to get around the crash scene.
Police said about 8:30 p.m. that the roadway would be closed for another two hours.
The Regional Transportation Commission’s website lists a bus stop on Rainbow and Lake Mead Boulevard with buses scheduled to come through at least twice each hour for routes going north or south.
Las Vegas is no stranger to bus stop accidents.
In 2009, a 19-year-old man driving a Chevrolet Impala lost control of his car and crashed into a Citizens Area Transit bus stop, a CAT bus and a light pole.
He and a 45-year-old woman, who had just gotten off the bus, were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.
In 2012, four people were killed and several were injured when Gary Lee Hosey Jr. crashed into a bus stop on Spring Mountain Road near Decatur Boulevard. Hosey later was sentenced to 24 to 80 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of DUI with death and one count of DUI with substantial bodily harm in connection with the crash.
A year later, two pickups that collided on Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard caused one of the trucks to slam into a bus shelter on Lamb where a father and his children were waiting. Three children, ages 2, 4 and 5 at the time, spent two weeks at UMC recovering from critical injuries.
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj. Contact Cassandra Taloma at ctaloma@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraTaloma.
