Driver had taken 5 whiskey shots before deadly crash, police say

A man driving a car in a two-vehicle crash that killed two women on Christmas Eve and sent five others to the hospital admitted to police that he taken five shots of whiskey hours before the crash, according to a Las Vegas police arrest report.

Ray Diokno, 25, of Las Vegas, is facing five counts of DUI and reckless driving, Las Vegas police said Thursday. He was booked in absentia at the Clark County Detention Center because he is still hospitalized.

Witnesses told police that about 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 24, they saw two cars, including the 2002 BMW 300i driven by Diokno, speeding down Cheyenne Avenue near Hualapai Way at about 100 mph.

The other car, which police were not able to describe, made it across the Hualapai intersection, police said, but the BMW ran a “solid red light” and hit a 2011 GMC Terrain that was turning onto Cheyenne.

The SUV rolled over and killed Etherine Noble, 81, and her daughter, Essie Mae Hale, 63. Another woman and a 1-year-old child in the SUV were injured.

Diokno and his two passengers, Jermayne Jefferson, 25, and Matthew Modelo, 26, suffered serious injuries, police said.

When officers arrived, the arrest report said, they noted the smell of alcohol on Diokno’s breath and submitted him to blood alcohol tests at University Medical Center.

Results obtained Dec. 31 showed his blood alcohol level at .126 three hours after the crash, and .096 four hours after the crash, police said.

The legal limit is .08.

When questioned by detectives, the arrest report said, Diokno said he did not remember what street the crash happened on and that he had drunk the five shots during a 30-minute period about three hours before the crash.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.