‘It was scary’: Victim describes 12-car crash that left 2 dead
A teenager faces reckless driving charges after police said he caused a 12-vehicle crash in northwest Las Vegas that left two people dead.
Jose Gutierrez, 19, was transported to University Medical Center and booked in absentia on four counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
The Metropolitan Police Department has said that, around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Gutierrez was driving an Infiniti G37 east on West Cheyenne Avenue as he approached North Jones Boulevard, where several vehicles were stopped at a red light.
Gutierrez, who officers said was traveling at “a high rate of speed,” did not slow down before he hit the stopped vehicles. A news release from Metro said that Gutierrez’s passenger, identified by the Clark County Coroner’s office as Adilene Duran Rincon, 20, and a driver from another vehicle, Edward Garcia, 38, died at the scene.
Other people involved in the crash were also taken to UMC for treatment, with one in critical condition.
According to online court records, Gutierrez pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of resisting a public officer in June. His jail sentence was suspended, and his case was closed after he stayed out of trouble and completed an 8-hour-long impulse control counseling.
Arresting documents from that incident said that Gutierrez threatened a Metro officer, who was responding to a battery call in which a “female cried, stating that a male had hit her.” According to the report, Gutierrez told the officer, “I’ll kill you,” and “I’ll shoot you.”
Gutierrez is due in court on Thursday for the reckless driving charges.
‘It was scary’
Floyd Hilliard, 45, was among those injured, reporting a minor brain bleed that required an overnight stay at University Medical Center. On Wednesday morning, doctors cleared him for discharge but prescribed medication to prevent seizures.
Hilliard was in the passenger seat while his fiancée was driving, stopped at a red light on Jones. While looking at his phone, he suddenly heard a loud crash — and then felt the impact.
Then, the vehicle “shifted,” spinning around in the roadway, Hilliard added.
“I did not see the driver coming,” Hillard said during a phone call from the hospital. “He had to be going at least 80 miles per hour. A couple of people were ejected from their cars. That’s how fast he was going.”
Hilliard said his first reaction was shock.
“I did not know what was going on,” he said. “Then, to get out of the car and see people on the ground, it was scary.”
Hilliard’s fiancée, Aljena Jackson, was also hospitalized but released Tuesday night, he said. He also said that the cars behind them took the hardest impact.
“If those cars hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t be able to talk to you right now,” Hillard said.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
