Passenger describes ride in truck

Jen Lawson

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 11:22 a.m.

Donations should be made to "The Holt Family" and brought to any branch of Nevada State Bank.

For information, call Alan Cates at 384-9900.

It was a decision Johnson would regret.

Moments later, police allege, Krivak struck and killed Chris Holt, 44, who was riding his bicycle along Torrey Pines Drive with his 8-year-old son, Chance.

Johnson, frightened, got out of the truck and stumbled away. Metro Police detectives investigating the crash weren't able to find him, until Johnson surfaced about 8 a.m. Thursday at the KOMP-FM 92.3 radio station studio on Flamingo Road near Durango Drive.

"He came in and said he wanted to talk to the Rock 'n' Roll Morning Show," program director John Griffin said. "He said he wanted to tell his side of the story."

As Johnson began describing what happened, a Metro officer, who was in his cruiser listening to the morning show at Flamingo and Durango, pulled into the station parking lot. Other officers soon arrived.

"They let him stay in the studio and say what he wanted to say," Griffin said.

Johnson, a 16-year resident of Las Vegas, said he had known Krivak for about two weeks, since they began working construction together. They ran into each other at a bar Tuesday, spent several hours drinking and left together. Johnson, who said he was also drunk, urged Krivak to give him the keys to his pickup truck, but Krivak refused.

"The last thing I really remember was seeing some people on bikes or something, then everything goes black for me," Johnson said.

"When I finally came to, I realized what he was saying to me," he said. "He said, 'I just killed somebody. Look at the windshield.' "

Johnson said the windshield was shattered and the front of the truck was smashed in, "like we done hit a light pole or something." But he said he doesn't remember seeing Holt's body.

They came to a cul-de-sac, where Krivak hit another car. Johnson kicked the door open, looked around and started walking. A man and a woman who were standing outside a house told Johnson to stop.

"I have this lady and this old man -- and I'm still drunk and in a confused state -- telling me they want me to stay and they want to detain me," Johnson said. "The woman said, 'I have handcuffs. I'm going to handcuff him.' "

Hearing that, Johnson began running. He said he hopped a wall of a job site and hid on the second floor of a partially built house. A construction worker kicked him out, so he went to another job site and got kicked out of there, too.

He became confused and lost and asked a construction worker where he was. He was told he was at Alexander Road and Tenaya Way. Johnson kept walking.

"I'm watching police cars fly past me as I'm walking down the road," he said. "I watched cops pass me by the whole time. That's why I thought I wasn't in trouble."

Somehow Johnson got home and fell asleep.

"When I woke up, I found myself on my couch and everyone was telling me I'm in trouble," he said. "I've been running ever since."

When the disc jockeys asked Johnson why he didn't go right to the police, he said he was scared and thought he'd be arrested.

But Metro Detective Steve Winne said Johnson isn't in trouble, and he is not expected to face charges.

When Johnson's 15-minute radio appearance was over, officers took him to University Medical Center, where he received stitches for an injury suffered in the crash. Then detectives interviewed him, Winne said.

"He didn't know if he was an accessory or an accomplice and he was looking for a lawyer," Winne said. "He has become our star witness because he puts the driver behind the wheel."

Krivak had his initial appearance in District Court today, appearing before three different judges on Wednesday's incident and two fugitive warrants from New Mexico.

Prosecutors are waiting to file a formal complaint until the police investigation is complete. Krivak is due back in court April 24, and prosecutors expect charges of driving under the influence resulting in death and bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident to be filed.

Krivak, who has been arrested for aggravated driving under the influence four times in San Juan County, N.M., also has a felony warrant from Colorado for aggravated assault against a judge. He is also believed to have a criminal record in Arizona.

Detective Sgt. Tyler Truby of the San Juan County Sheriff's Office said that in January, Krivak struck a female deputy with the same pickup truck used in Tuesday's crash.

"He's known to law enforcement in his area," he said. "We are very familiar with his record."

In the January incident the deputy pulled Krivak over and approached the driver's side window. Krivak refused to roll the window down, then he hit the gas and took off into traffic, hitting the deputy in the arm with the cab of the truck, Truby said.