Police led on high-speed chase before rollover

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

A teenage boy robbed a 65-year-old man at gunpoint this morning, stole the victim's car and led Metro Police on a chase that ended with a rollover at an Interstate 215 onramp, police said.

The man was walking toward his Pontiac Grand Am in the parking lot of an Albertsons at Maryland Parkway and Sahara Avenue about 5 a.m. when the teen approached him, pulled out a gun, forced him into the passenger seat and drove the car away, Metro Officer Jose Montoya said.

An employee at the shopping center saw the robbery and called police, Montoya said.

Police spotted the car on Desert Inn Road and pursued, but the suspect sped up and turned south onto Maryland Parkway, continuing to Russell Road.

The victim had either jumped out or was pushed out of the car at some point but was not injured, Montoya said. He could not say where the victim was found.

On the McCarran International Airport connector to I-215, the car hit the curb while going about 70 mph, but continued south through the airport tunnel, Montoya said.

The suspect lost control of the vehicle while rounding the curve on the I-215 onramp toward Henderson at about 100 mph, and the car flipped six times, Montoya said.

The teen, whose name wasn't released because he is a juvenile, was being treated for minor injuries at University Medical Center this morning.

Interstate 15, I-215 and the airport tunnel were closed for a short time during the chase.

Montoya said the incident isn't considered a carjacking because the victim was not in his car when the robbery began.