Man who fatally hit bicyclist in northwest Las Vegas was ‘belligerently impaired,’ police say

The suspected impaired driver who fatally struck a bicyclist in the northwest Las Vegas Valley on Sunday morning was “erratic” and told police that he used marijuana and drank an “unknown quantity of beers” before the crash, police said in an arrest report.

Charles Carter, 69, was arrested on a charge of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving.

The Clark County coroner’s office identified the bicyclist who was killed as Wesley Sterner, 77.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Carter was driving a Mercedes-Benz SL550 south on North Shaumber Road, near Grand Teton Drive, when the front of the car struck the bicyclist, who had tried to get out of the way.

The bicyclist — Metro didn’t identify him by name — fell onto the windshield before he was thrown into the median, police said. Carter continued driving for “several hundred feet” before stopping, police said, and the bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

When police found Carter, he was sitting on the curb near the Mercedes-Benz, crying and nursing his body and head, the report said. One officer said he had bloodshot and watery eyes and made repeated statements, saying that he did not mean to hurt anyone, according to the report.

“LVFR personnel stated that Carter appeared altered and extremely impaired,” police said in the report. “Carter denied using illicit drugs. He stated that he used Marijuana a while ago and stated that he was going home from a bar. Carter did not specify what location that bar was … but Carter did admit to drinking an unknown quantity of beers at a party.”

Police said that they couldn’t finish additional field sobriety tests on Carter because he was in an ambulance and “belligerently impaired,” but during one, he couldn’t keep his eyes on the stimulus, closing them completely at one point.

“Mr. Carter was rocking back and forth, restless, fidgety, and had facial movements commonly observed in Central Nervous System Stimulant users,” the report said.

The results of Carter’s two blood tests were not immediately available. Court records indicate that his bail was set at $250,000 and that he is a veteran.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.