15 officers, 856 DUI arrests, 1 goal: To stop impaired driving
Nevada State Trooper Martin Moran made 135 DUI arrests in 2022. It’s a lot — but it’s also a drop in the bucket.
“The city has a problem.” Moran said of the sheer number of impaired drivers on Las Vegas area roads. “There’s a legitimate problem.”
On Sunday, the people whose lives have been devastated by impaired drivers came together at the Henderson Police Department’s North Police Station, at 225 East Sunset Road, in an event organized by STOP DUI, a Nevada-based anti DUI advocacy organization, to honor the law enforcement officers who arrest impaired drivers. They also shared the stories and memories of their loved ones whose lives were taken.
As part of Sunday’s Heroes & Handcuffs event, 15 officers each received a pair of handcuffs engraved with the name of a victim of a fatal DUI crash as a token of appreciation. In 2022, the 15 officers made a total of 856 DUI arrests.
Also in attendance were three Las Vegas Raiders — Andre James, Maxx Crosby and Tre’von Moehrig — as well as Bob Stiriti, the Raiders’ director of team security, and Daryl Nelson, the team’s director of team growth and development — all of whom handed out some of the awards to the officers.
Stiriti said the Raiders organization trains and educates players about driving while impaired as part of an effort to make sure no player or team employee is involved in a DUI.
Former Raider Henry Ruggs is facing charges of DUI, reckless driving and possession of a firearm while under the influence in connection with a November 2021 crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog.
Stiriti said the Raiders’ in-house anti-DUI efforts weren’t enacted as a result of the Ruggs situation and that the team had a DUI education program in place before the Ruggs arrest.
“You know, we had a young man that (allegedly) made some wrong decisions that evening,” Stiriti said. “We need to make sure that our young men don’t make those types of decisions any longer.”
For Alma Rodriguez, 56, whose husband, Julio, was killed by a drunk driver in 2011 in Barstow, as they drove back to Las Vegas, life has never been the same. Alma Rodriguez was in a coma for several weeks.
“I feel that it was yesterday,” Rodriguez said. “I miss everything that I had.”
Diane Malone’s daughter Christa Malone Puente, 33, and Christa’s husband, Damaso Ismael Puente Jr., 39, were killed on May 15, 2018.
The Puentes were killed when Henry Aparicio was driving nearly 100 mph on Sahara Avenue and slammed his Mercedes-Benz C250 into the back of the Puentes’ Toyota Prius at Hualapai Way. Aparicio had a blood alcohol content that was about four times the legal limit, officials said, and was sentenced to 15 to 44 years in prison in 2019, a sentence that was upheld by a second judge in 2022.
The Malones have had to endure that lengthy legal process, Diane Malone said, calling it emotionally draining. She also called for harsher penalties for DUI drivers, saying that DUI drivers often just get a slap on the wrist.
Christa Puente was an oncology nurse who worked at MountainView Hospital, while her husband worked in video and photography, Diane Malone said.
“They were both some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known,” Diane Malone said. “And not just because she was my daughter, you know?
“But she was my daughter, and for that to be taken away from me, it’s like, a part of myself died too. And now I have to try to go on with only the part of me that’s left. And it’s not easy.”
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.
