Pedestrian struck in 3-car accident

Jace Radke

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Metro Police say a woman who hit two cars, a pedestrian, and then drove into drainage ditch, was driving impaired, but they don't know by what.

"She was under the influence of something," Metro Police Sgt. Curt Albert said. "We've done some blood tests, and there were a lot of prescription drugs in her car."

Police say Cherie Dickinson, 34, of Henderson, was driving a Chevrolet Suburban south on Nellis Boulevard about 4 p.m. Thursday and ran a red light at Tropicana Avenue, hitting two cars that were making a left turn from Tropicana to northbound Nellis.

One of the cars that was hit continued through the intersection and struck a van from KinderCare Learning Centers. At the same time the Suburban continued south on Nellis and hit a woman who was walking across the street in a crosswalk, police said.

"The driver of the Suburban attempted to flee the scene, and continued on Nellis to Hacienda (Avenue)," Albert said. "Nellis ends at Hacienda at a big drainage ditch that probably drops 30 feet. She went through the barricades and went airborne into the ditch."

The pedestrian, Belia Tajimaroaandrade, 36, of Las Vegas was taken to University Medical Center and listed in critical condition this morning. Dickinson was taken to UMC and treated for minor injuries. The drivers and passengers in the three other cars -- a total of six people -- were also taken to UMC, but none of their injuries were serious.

"The woman in the Suburban is at least facing a charge of felony hit and run, and could be facing other charges," Albert said.

Detectives are also investigating a fatal accident that happened Thursday about 9:15 p.m. near Tropicana and Mountain Vista Street.

A sedan was heading east on Tropicana when for some reason it went into a sideways slide, Albert said.

The car spun into a parking lot just west of Mountain Vista, and then traveled into a vacant lot where it hit a dirt berm and rolled.

Police say the man driving the car, Aaron T. Parr, 27, of Las Vegas, didn't appear to have been wearing a seatbelt, and that he died at the scene.

Both accidents remain under investigation, Albert said.