No charge planned in fatal chase into Strip traffic

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

No charges will be filed against a man who chased his girlfriend into busy Las Vegas Boulevard where she was hit and killed by a sport utility vehicle.

District Attorney Stewart Bell said Tuesday that there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove that 46-year-old Steven Jensen "created a risk of death" when he pursued the woman.

"If you create the risk of death and death results, you are guilty of second-degree murder, but if you only create the risk of harm, there is no crime," he said.

Bell said the woman's decision to take a fatal course in her flight was not Jensen's fault under current Nevada law and there is no criminal charge that otherwise fits the incident.

"She risked death to avoid injury," he continued, calling that "an unreasonable reaction."

Jensen was released a few days after his arrest while police scoured for evidence and prosecutors researched the law.

Bell noted that had Jensen pursued the woman with lethal intent -- carrying a gun or a bat and professing an intent to kill -- he could have been charged with second-degree murder over the fatal accident.

Bell added that had Jensen caught the woman and hit her or otherwise mistreated her, he also would have faced criminal prosecution.

"It was reasonable to believe he might have punched her in the nose, and if he did, we could put him in jail," he continued.

"We don't know what was in her head, and to charge him we would have to prove she perceived her life was threatened," he explained, emphasizing the evidence didn't reach that level.

Bell said he wouldn't quarrel if the Nevada Legislature passed a law -- perhaps a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge -- that could have been used to pursue Jensen.

The district attorney said Jensen and his 39-year-old girlfriend were "involved in a somewhat abusive relationship" and had been drinking when the events "escalated" and she fled the motel room in the 3900 block of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Police said the couple had lived there for the prior two weeks.

After Jensen was arrested, he was placed on a suicide watch in the Clark County Detention Center.