Police: Drugged-out driver crashed into Stratosphere looking for fame
A man Las Vegas police accused of crashing a pickup into the Stratosphere front doors Wednesday said he was looking for his 15 minutes of fame.
But a Metro police report from the crash reads more like 15 minutes of shame.
Ryan Brown, 40, address unknown, was on a six-day drug bender when a 2004 Ford F-150 with California plates slammed into the Strip casino’s glass doors with him behind wheel, police say.
No one was hurt in the crash, which happened about 8 p.m., police said.
When officers arrived to detain Brown, the report said, he rambled about his life history plus a bit of trivia: He said he had worked as an electrician for Burning Man and shares a birthday with Elvis.
Brown worked at the counterculture festival in Northern Nevada and was let go during this year’s event, Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham said. The annual festival ran from Aug. 25 to Sept. 1.
The King of Rock ’n’ Roll and Brown both were born on Jan. 8.
Brown had been in an argument with a pedestrian in the valet area before he gassed the truck and crashed, police said. He was detained by casino security and was combative with them and casino guests while waiting for police, the report said.
When officers arrived, Brown’s shorts and shirt were “soaked,” the report said. He told police that he had urinated himself. While searching the truck, officers said they found crack cocaine on an open ashtray and a glass pipe on the floor, the report said.
At the sight of flashing lights from a wrecker truck, Brown seemed “proud and excited” about what he had done and thought that the lights came from “national news photographers,” the report said.
Brown said he had intended to jump off the Stratosphere tower to gain the nation’s attention, the report said. He showed no remorse for endangering others, according to police.
He was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of possession of cocaine, reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs and causing a crash, according to the police report. Brown later became combative with jail workers and had to be restrained and had to wear a spit mask.
