Cops: Alcohol a factor in crashes

Kristen Peterson and Jace Radke

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

The accident that killed an Arizona man and critically injured two California college students was one of three fatal crashes in the first hours of the new year.

Roberto Esteban Flores, 24, of Arizona died Saturday after his southbound Toyota pickup drifted into the northbound lanes of U.S. 95 north of the county line about 5:30 a.m. and struck a 1999 Ford pickup head on. Gabriel Elmer Scherger, 20, of San Diego and Jolene Blessing, 18, of Folsom, Calif., were in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning.

Nevada Highway Patrol officials believe Flores had been drinking.

Highway patrol officials suspect alcohol was a factor in another of the fatalities early Saturday.

About 8:20 a.m. Jeffrey Meeker, 42, of New York was driving his 2000 GMC sport-utility vehicle northbound on Rainbow Boulevard toward the intersection of Charleston Boulevard when he ran a red light without braking.

Meeker's car hit the passenger side of a 1989 Mercury Cougar driven by Melissa Ann Freites, 30, of San Diego. Freites was traveling eastbound through the green light.

The impact of the crash pushed the Cougar into a CAT bus.

The passenger in the Cougar, Terri Lynn Wealon, 49, of San Diego, died.

Freites was treated and released at UMC. Meeker was treated at UMC, then arrested by the Nevada Highway Patrol and booked for felony DUI. No injuries were reported on the bus.

The third fatality of the new year was not believed to be alcohol-related, highway patrol spokeman Scott Flabi said.

At 4:10 a.m. Saturday Richardo Galaviz, age unknown, of Las Vegas was speeding eastbound on Tropicana near Paradise Road in his white 2000 Ford car with passenger Sixto Galaviz, 21, when he hit the median and lost control, Flabi said. His car went into the westbound lanes, hitting a semi tractor-trailer head-on.

Richardo Galaviz was killed. Sixto Galaviz was in critical condition this morning at UMC.

The driver of the semi, Milton Rowe, 55, of Hughson, Calif., was not injured.

The fatalities occurred in an evening in which the Nevada Highway Patrol, which handled all traffic calls in the Las Vegas Valley during the holiday weekend, made 70 arrests for driving under the influence.

Normally the highway patrol makes between 15 and 20 DUI stops on a non-holiday Friday night and Saturday morning, Flabi said.

Metro Police, which handled traffic on the Strip on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, was still compiling its statistics this morning on the weekend's DUI arrests.

Last year the highway patrol recorded 46 DUIs.