Man ‘extremely critical’ after being struck in Las Vegas road rage crash

Brown flip-flops sat in a southeast valley roadway Tuesday evening, just feet from an empty green Jeep — its driver gravely wounded at a nearby hospital after police said he was run over in a fit of road rage.

Officers were called at 2:22 p.m. to East Desert Inn Road and Boulder Highway after a report of a crash involving a vehicle and the pedestrian, who had gotten out of his Jeep before he was struck, according to Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer.

The Jeep’s driver, a man in his 70s, was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in “extremely critical” condition, Spencer said at the scene.

Given the man’s condition, Spencer said homicide detectives were investigating the crash, which police considered an intentional act. It stemmed from an argument between the Jeep driver and the occupants of a green Chevy Suburban, police said.

Witnesses told detectives that the Suburban’s driver cut off the Jeep’s driver on Desert Inn. After the Jeep driver honked his horn, a passenger in the Suburban got out and threw a beer can at the Jeep. Spencer said this led to a fight between the passenger and the Jeep’s driver in front of both vehicles.

When the fight moved to the front of the Suburban, the Suburban’s passenger got back into the SUV, and the driver accelerated into the man, Spencer said.

“He was standing directly in front of the car when the driver took off,” Spencer said.

The Suburban driver ran over a median and sped off in a different direction, but a nearby officer pulled the vehicle over. Spencer said two people from the Suburban had been detained as of Tuesday evening.

Spencer urged anyone subjected to road rage to drive away if possible and avoid getting involved. Residents can also call 311 to report the enraged driver.

Desert Inn was expected to be closed for several hours late Tuesday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.