Teenager dies after ‘weird’ turn of events

Cathy Scott

Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 | 10:29 a.m.

A Las Vegas teenager died Wednesday night in what Metro Police are calling a "weird" turn of events.

According to a witness, 14-year-old Miguel Valencia ran to a house on Solteros Street, near the 5500 block of Flamingo Road, about 8:30 p.m. and asked for help but wasn't making any sense, traffic Sgt. Curt Albert said.

He was bleeding from a head injury and appeared to be intoxicated, police said.

When the woman started to go outside to talk to him, Valencia took off running toward Flamingo, where he was hit by one car and run over by another.

Another witness who saw the teenager before the accident told investigators that one of the youth's ears was missing and that he had a massive head injury. Evidence at the scene, however, didn't reflect that, Albert said.

"If that's true, that didn't happen at this accident scene," he said. "It's weird. We're getting conflicting reports. The coroner is going to give us more answers. But we think he was already injured before he got hit the first time."

What police do know is that after Valencia ran onto Flamingo, his foot was run over and he was thrown into the air by a 1991 Lincoln. Valencia landed in the path of a 1996 Oldsmobile, which ran over the youth's arm and chest, Albert said.

Valencia was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center where he died a short time later. An autopsy was scheduled for today.

The drivers weren't cited.