Road rage incident turns to homicide as victim dies

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 | 11:58 a.m.

A 43-year-old man who was injured during a traffic-related confrontation earlier this month died, and his death has been ruled a homicide, Metro Police said.

David Sanchez, a passenger in a vehicle, and the driver, who was not identified, were traveling north on Maryland Parkway near Desert Inn Road about 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 18. They apparently merged with traffic and got into a dispute with another motorist, police said.

When both drivers stopped at a red light on Maryland Parkway at either Karen or Sahara avenues, another driver got out of his car and approached the passenger side where Sanchez was sitting. The driver broke out the rear passenger window and punched Sanchez several times in the head, police said.

On Feb. 21 Sanchez went to a local hospital complaining of headaches before collapsing. He underwent emergency surgery for bleeding in the brain. Sanchez died Friday.

Police are seeking any witnesses. The suspect is described as a Hispanic man, 40 to 50 years old, 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 275 to 300 pounds. He was driving a silver compact car with a Nevada license plate. Sanchez wrote the plate number down as 480 MKK, but there are no matches in motor vehicle records.

Police suspect the license plate may be a slight variation of what Sanchez wrote down.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Metro's homicide unit at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.