Driver cited in chain-reaction crash

A Clark County building inspector blamed for causing an nine-vehicle pileup after fleeing the scene of a wreck a few blocks away was cited for reckless driving, Las Vegas police said.

Jeffery Sudweeks, along with seven others, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the 1:45 p.m. crash Tuesday at Desert Inn and Sandhill roads. Sudweeks and six others were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Sudweeks was fleeing in a 2004 Dodge 2500 pickup at a high rate of speed from a wreck at Desert Inn and Horizon Street, police said. He approached Sandhill and slammed into the rear of a 2005 Chevrolet that was stopped for a traffic light, causing a chain-reaction collision.

Investigators have determined that neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor in the wreck, which caused the intersection to be closed for more than four hours.

Sudweeks has been with the county Development Services Department since Sept. 15, 2004.

He is one of about 150 county building inspectors whose responsibilities include checking to see that construction conforms to plumbing, electrical, mechanical and structural building codes.