Man dies as driver ignores police

Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 11:51 a.m.

An accident left a Las Vegas man dead Tuesday night when his car was struck by a pickup driven by a man police suspect was drunk.

A citizen called police just after 11 p.m. and reported a possible drunk driver in a Chevrolet pickup in northeast Las Vegas.

A patrol officer spotted the truck heading westbound on Cheyenne Avenue near Lake Mead Boulevard, but the driver did not pull over when the officer attempted to make a traffic stop.

The truck, driven by 31-year-old Timothy Fonseca, ran a red light on Cheyenne at Pecos Road and struck the passenger side of a 1997 Saturn headed northbound through the intersection on Pecos, police said.

The pickup pushed into the passenger side of the Saturn, and both cars slid about 290 feet before coming to a stop at about 11:30 p.m., police said.

The driver of the Saturn, a 44-year-old Las Vegas man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fonseca, an El Paso, Texas native, ran from the accident, police said.

"He took off on foot and an officer caught up with him in a nearby apartment complex," Lt. John Thornton said. "He struck the officer with his fist, but the officer was able to put him into custody."

Fonseca was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on several felony charges including assaulting an officer, police said. The accident is still under investigation by the traffic investigations detail.