Man, 73, killed while crossing Tropicana near The Orleans

A 73-year-old man died Thursday night after being hit by an SUV while crossing Tropicana Avenue east of Rogers Street.

Jennifer Nases, 39, of Las Vegas, was driving a Jeep Compass eastbound on Tropicana near The Orleans when she struck a pedestrian who was crossing the street outside of the marked crosswalk, according to Las Vegas police.

The man was taken to University Medical Center with critical injuries, but he died after his arrival.

The incident remains under investigation by Las Vegas police.

The death brings the number of auto-related fatalities in the Metropolitan Police Department jurisdiction to 62 this year. That is a 20 percent increase from this time last year, Sgt. Todd Raybuck said.

"I don't know if it's a matter of complacency, if it's a matter of convenience," Raybuck said. "But people really need to cross the street at the corner. They need to utilize marked crosswalks. We need people to look for pedestrians. We need pedestrians to look for cars.

"That's the only way we are going to reduce the number of fatals in our valley."

Raybuck said the Fourth of July holiday is always one of the worst times for traffic-related problems in Las Vegas.

"Unfortunately for too many people, the holiday weekend of Fourth of July becomes a mourning of family members' deaths that are related to fatalities on the roadway," Raybuck said.

Law enforcement agencies, including Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas police and the Nevada Highway Patrol will be working together through the holiday weekend thanks to a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety.

The increased police presence will last until July 8.

Contact Ben Frederickson at
bfrederickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.