Man saw kids, alerted police

After witnessing toddlers fall from a moving vehicle Sunday evening, a good Samaritan jumped out of his car and frantically waved down Las Vegas police officers.

"The blue car, stop them," the man shouted, according to a police report.

"Two children just fell out of the car and rolled into the intersection."

While police trailed the blue PT Cruiser sedan, a third child fell from the vehicle and rolled before the car stopped, according to a Las Vegas police report.

As the driver stumbled getting out of the car near the intersection of Bruce Street and Owens Avenue, an officer asked what happened.

"I have no idea. We were driving around. The door opened up and they fell out. I am going to jail, aren't I?" Nancy Lopez replied, the report said.

Lopez, 28, the mother of one of the children, told police she had three or four beers at a party before getting behind the wheel, the report said.

Nine other people were in the car, including seven children younger than 9, none of whom were in child seats.

Lopez was arrested and charged with seven counts of child endangerment, seven counts of having an unrestrained minor in a vehicle, drunken driving, driving on a suspended license and having an open container in a vehicle.

The mother of the 14-month-old twins who fell from the vehicle, 19-year-old Vanessa Ramirez, wasn't in the car but told police she knew Lopez was not fit to drive when she placed the twins and another child in the car.

"I knew Nancy was drunk and had been drinking a lot at the birthday party we were at," she told police.

Ramirez was charged with child endangerment.

Both mothers were being held Tuesday night at the Clark County Detention Center.

Lopez's criminal history includes several counts of check fraud and theft. Ramirez had no criminal history in Las Vegas.

The women were mothers of all seven children in the car.

The injured children, Lopez's 3-year-old son and Ramirez's 14-month-old twins, a boy and a girl, were treated for injuries ranging from cuts to blood trickling from the girl's nose and mouth.

The male twin, whose wounds included a nosebleed after falling from the car and rolling in the intersection, was listed in good condition at University Medical Center. He had been listed in critical condition.

State law requires that children younger than 6 or lighter than 60 pounds be placed in a child safety seat.

According to the police report, the children were sitting on the laps of two men and were coming from a party in a nearby park where a fight might have broken out.

One of the men, Antonio Sanchez, who was unrelated to the children, was charged with seven counts of child neglect.

The second man was a grandfather to some of the children.

Sanchez, 19, had an open beer in his lap when he was questioned by officers.

Another 12-ounce bottle of beer, unopened but cold to the touch, was found in a diaper bag inside the car, the report said.

"It's leaving a dangerous scene and creating another one," Las Vegas police Sgt. Oscar Chavez said. "That's a lot of kids for that vehicle. I don't know where they all fit."

Investigators did not know how the children fell out of the vehicle, but Chavez said the childproof locking system should have been engaged.

"Kids love to push buttons and pull handles," he said.

Chavez said he had never seen so many unrestrained children in a car.

Deborah Stewart, editor and publisher of Safe Ride News, a publication for vehicle safety educators and professionals, said the children were at high risk inside the car.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 6 and 8 to 14.

Stewart said that if a crash had occurred, the children could have been thrown from the vehicle or knocked into one another.

"It's a disaster waiting to happen," she said. "In most vehicles, there wouldn't even be enough seat belts for that many people, let along car seats. It was very overloaded.

"This is so extreme."

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.