Las Vegas Uber driver accused in fatal runover was trying to escape man, lawyer says

A Las Vegas Uber driver accused of fatally running over a 56-year-old man in downtown Las Vegas was trying to get away from another man who was threatening him, the driver’s lawyer said.

Matthew Bowens died after he was run over twice on First Street south of East Ogden Avenue, outside Circa, at about 10:20 p.m. Friday, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report released Wednesday.

Uber driver Kevin Vo, 45, got into an argument with a man — the man’s identity wasn’t known — as Vo was waiting for rides, the report said.

In his interview with police, Vo told police the man began making “unprovoked threats towards him, stating that he would kill him,” the report said.

Vo told police the man tried to get into his Cadillac Escalade. As the man continued to threaten him, according to the report, Vo said he grabbed a hammer-style glass breaker with a seatbelt cutter and exited the vehicle “to get the male away from his vehicle.”

The men had an argument as Vo got back into the Cadillac. The unknown man pushed on Vo’s door as Vo got into the driver’s seat. Vo wanted to get away, he told police, according to the report.

“Mr. Vo said he wanted to leave the area, so he tried to reverse his vehicle,” the report said. “He recalled knowing he had hit someone, so he tried to pull forward to get his vehicle off the person.”

As Vo reversed, another man, Bowens, walked to the back of the Cadillac, police said. Vo “narrowly” missed the unidentified man, but he knocked Bowen to the ground and ran him over with the rear wheels, the report said.

Vo’s lawyer, Justin Wilson, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Vo wanted to get away from the man threatening him. But there was a car in front of the Cadillac, so Vo reversed, Wilson said.

“He realized he hit him, and he panicked thinking that he was still on him,” Wilson said. “He pulled forward to get off him, not realizing that his tires had already gone over.”

The car rolled backward before stopping, and Vo out of the Escalade. The Cadillac was seen rolling backward again and Vo reparked it.

“Once he realized what happened, he immediately got out of his vehicle and stopped and tried to render aid,” Wilson said.

Bowens was taken to University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The unknown man fled the scene and was never identified.

At the scene, officers had Vo undergo sobriety tests. Officers believed he was impaired. Vo was arrested on charges of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving resulting in death.

But Vo’s blood alcohol content was 0 percent, and there were no drugs in his system, Wilson said Wednesday.

“It seems to me that the nature of the incident itself provides more of an explanation as to why he might not have been so steady on his feet than intoxication,” Wilson said.

On Tuesday, the district attorney’s office dropped the DUI resulting in death charge, according to court records.

On Wednesday morning, Vo pleaded not guilty in court and posted bail. court records show.

His bail was set at $10,000 with the conditions he stays out of trouble and does not drive.

Contact Megan Howard at mhoward@reviewjournal.com. Follow her on X at @meganmhxward.