‘Somebody we loved very much’: Aunt remembers Las Vegas motorcyclist killed in DUI crash

Miya Boggs said losing her nephew was like losing a son.

“I could not believe it,” Boggs said, discussing the crash in which 37-year-old Wesley Larsen was killed while riding his motorcycle. “All of this just feels so unfair.”

Larsen, who was on his way home from a birthday party, died after the Sept. 5 collision near East Tropicana Avenue and South McLeod Drive. Police have said that Larsen was riding a Harley-Davidson Low Rider S east on a “steady green signal” when Bryan Vargas-Caicedo turned his Honda Accord in front of Larsen without yielding to the motorcyclist.

Police also said that Vargas-Caicedo was driving an unregistered car, did not have a driver’s license, and told investigators that he had had five or six beers hours before the crash. He was arrested and held in the Clark County Detention Center before being released on a $100,000 bail and electronic monitoring days later, court records show.

Boggs said that Larsen was married and had a 16-year-old daughter. Larsen, who worked as a journeyman electrician, loved motorcycles and had a lot of friends, Boggs added.

“I knew he was popular, but I had not realized how much he was loved until the (funeral) service,” Boggs said.

She also recalled when Larsen, barely an adult then, came to live with her, her husband, and her daughter, Kimberly, who was around the same age as Larsen. As Boggs grew close to the young man, Kimberly and Larsen also became “inseparable,” Boggs said.

Boggs described Larsen as always “laughing” and “wanting to do for others.” When Kimberly moved to Reno and started her own family, he regularly visited her there, Boggs added.

After Larsen’s death, Kimberly started tracking updates on Vargas-Caicedo’s case online, urging her mom to attend the hearings in person.

Boggs said that despite the emotional toll she “wanted to be there to represent Wesley.”

‘Issues with the facts’

After the crash, Vargas-Caicedo was charged with two felonies, DUI resulting in death and reckless driving. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in District Court.

Vargas-Caicedo, who appeared out of custody, admitted that he had been “driving erratically” leading up to the crash and that his actions ultimately caused Larsen’s death. A week earlier, Vargas-Caicedo also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DUI charge in a lower court as part of his plea deal.

Vargas-Caicedo faces one to six years in prison at a Jan. 14 sentencing, though he is also eligible for probaion, according to the plea agreement.

His lawyer, John Turco, said that the case was negotiated because of “issues with the facts of the case,” particularly those concerning whether his client was actually intoxicated. Court documents suggested that at least one reading of Vargas-Caicedo’s blood alcohol concentration after the crash was above the legal limit, but did not specify the exact amount.

Later Wednesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Vargas-Caicedo’s DUI charge was reduced because Larsen was traveling between 82 and 85 miles per hour in an area where the speed limit was 45 miles per hour. Larsen had a history of speeding, and Vargas-Caicedo, who had a blinking yellow light, made a legal left turn.

“If we went to trial, this would have come out,” Wolfson said. “Having the lead detective testify to this would be highly problematic, so we still have the defendant pleading to a felony. And prison is still an option.”

Asked about the plea agreement, Boggs said that she was outraged.

“This man decided to drink and then get into an unregistered vehicle … I don’t care if (the light) was yellow or not, he took the life of somebody we loved very much,” Boggs said. “It’s going to be a sad day if he does not get any time.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.