Man arrested after deadly traffic rampage

Wednesday, April 16, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

A man who police say has a history of drunken driving killed a man and left a trail of damage through Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon, Metro Police said.

Police say Michael Krivak, 40, hit a bicycling father and son, killing the father, and was involved in five separate collisions in his red Chevrolet pickup truck before it caught on fire.

Michael Krivak is being held in Clark County Detention Center facing charges of hit-and-run, felony drunken driving, causing substantial bodily harm, and numerous other charges, police said.

The rampage shocked police, who say Krivak drove with his victim on the hood for about a mile before pulling him off to continue his drive.

"We have a lot of hit-and-runs, but nothing to this extent," Metro Sgt. Curt Albert said. "He hit a father and son, then reaches around and throws the father off his car like he's a piece of garbage.

"It's so callous, so uncaring. It's unbelievable."

Krivak was arrested for aggravated driving under the influence four times in New Mexico, according to court records.

In addition to driving under the influence, Krivak also has a history of resisting a police officer, domestic violence and failure to report an accident in New Mexico, court records show.

Krivak also has a felony warrant out of Colorado for aggravated assault on a public official, which Detective Steve Winne said involved a judge.

He is also believed to have a criminal record out of Arizona, Winne said. According to officers at the scene, Krivak failed to stop at a red traffic light on Torrey Pines Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard and rear-ended a 1996 Chevrolet minivan driven by Samantha Zamora. The pickup truck failed to stop. Zamora was not seriously injured.

The truck was going 45 to 55 mph northbound on Torrey Pines when it hit the two cyclists, Chris Holt, 44, and Chance Holt, 8, Albert said.

The boy was taken to University Medical Center where he was listed in fair condition late Tuesday.

Chris Holt, who was killed instantly, was lodged on the truck's hood as the pickup truck continued north on Torrey Pines to Cheyenne Avenue, a distance of more than a mile, Albert said.

The speeding truck continued driving down Torrey Pines, then turned onto Mustang Drive.

Krivak stopped in front of a home in the 3200 block of Mustang, got out of the truck and pulled the bicyclist's body off the hood, witnesses told police. The driver then apparently ran over Holt again as he drove away, Albert said.

"It's, for lack of a better description, disgusting," Albert said.

Holt and his wife have a newborn baby in addition to their son. Friends were laying flowers and candles at the scene of the accident late Tuesday night.

Police allege Krivak then drove through residential areas until he came to Sand Pebble Lane, where witnesses said he argued with a man riding with him. The passenger left the truck and Krivak struck a parked vehicle as he fled the cul-de-sac.

Westbound on Alexander Road, Krivak struck a 2000 Saturn driven by James Baxter near Fort Apache, police said. As the pickup left this accident, the Saturn's driver began following him.

Near Fort Apache and Cheyenne, the fleeing driver pulled onto Jumping Jupiter, then turned into Misty Evening Street where his truck stopped, smoke and flames rising from under the hood.

Misty Evening resident Valarie Bennett said she heard neighbor dogs barking and ran into her front yard.

"There were three vehicles in the middle of the street and my first thought was somebody's been in an accident and somebody is going to get the s--- kicked out of them," Bennett said.

"Nobody on the street recognized him at all. He left quite a rampage."

Stephanie Delaney, 9, was riding a motorized scooter on Jumping Jupiter and saw her father driving home on Misty Evening.

She saw the truck on fire and ran into the house, her dad, Thomas Delaney, said.

Delaney was joined by Baxter and they rushed to the burning truck.

"We tried to put the fire out," Delaney said. "I knew he had hit somebody, not just another car."

The damage to the hood and windshield of the pickup truck included human hair embedded in the broke glass.

As Delaney tried to douse the fire, the driver came around the truck. "You could tell he wasn't right," Delaney said. "I told him to go sit down. He wouldn't sit down, he was trying to get back into the truck. So I helped him to sit."

Delaney, who said he has studied martial arts for years, wrestled the impaired driver to the ground, and held him face down until the police came.