Man arrested in crash that killed Sun executive

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 | 11:21 a.m.

A Las Vegas man suspected of causing the crash that killed Las Vegas Sun Vice President and Associate Editor Sandy Thompson was arrested Tuesday after blood tests showed he had marijuana in his system at the time of the accident.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said tests indicated John Simbrat had seven times the amount of THC in his blood that is allowable under law.

THC is the active ingredient in marijuana. Under a Nevada law that went into effect in October 1999, anyone with 2 nanograms of marijuana per milliliter of blood is presumed to be under the influence of the drug.

Simbrat's blood also showed that marijuana had begun breaking down into other substances, called metabolites, Booker said. Simbrat had 22 times the amount of metabolites allowed under the 3-year-old law.

Simbrat was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one count each of driving under the influence of a controlled or prohibited substance, causing death, felony reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter.

Simbrat, who has not yet been appointed an attorney, is being held without bail.

"He had a lot more THC in his system than Jessica Williams," Booker said of Simbrat. "He was grossly in excess of the prohibited substance amount contained in the statute."

Williams was the first person tried and convicted under the state's new prohibited substance law.

In March 2000 Williams fell asleep at the wheel of her father's van after smoking marijuana and taking Ecstasy. The van drifted into the median of Interstate 15 and struck and killed six teenagers.

A jury ruled that Williams had the marijuana in her system, but said it had nothing to do with the accident -- prompting her attorney to argue the law was unconstitutional.

The Nevada Supreme Court upheld Williams' conviction last month. She is serving an 18 to 48-year prison sentence.

Booker said he believes Simbrat is the first person charged in connection with a fatal accident under the controlled/prohibited substance statute since the higher court's ruling.

"We're good to go," Booker said.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, Thompson was third in line at a red light at Interstate 215 and Far Hills Avenue when Simbrat's sport utility vehicle hit a dividing wall at a high rate of speed and plowed into Thompson's Toyota Camry, pushing it into and underneath the pickup truck in front of her.

Thompson died at the scene and the drivers of the other two vehicles were uninjured. Simbrat was taken to University Medical Center in serious condition, but was eventually released.

Booker said Tuesday that initial NHP reports indicate Simbrat was traveling at least 20 miles an hour over the posted speed limit of 45 mph. His vehicle traveled 300 feet after he struck the wall and before he hit Thompson's vehicle.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson said records indicate Simbrat has been ticketed three times for speeding and once for driving without insurance. His license was revoked for the insurance violation, but was reinstated in February, Nelson said.

Simbrat had also been involved in four prior accidents, but records don't indicate who was found at fault in those accidents, Nelson said.

Although Simbrat told officers he had smoked two bowls of marijuana the day before the accident, the THC level in his blood indicates he last smoked marijuana "within hours, probably two to three hours" of the accident, Booker said.

Simbrat also told officers he fell asleep at the wheel, Booker said. He said he had gone to bed at 1 a.m., but got up at 6:30 a.m. to take his mother to work. He was driving home at the time of the crash.

Simbrat's initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.

Driving under the influence of a controlled or prohibited substance is punishable by two to 20 years. Reckless driving carries a one to six-year prison sentence and involuntary manslaughter is punishable by one to four years.