Three teens killed in Henderson car crash

Jen Lawson and Timothy Pratt

Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

Three teens are dead and two critically injured after the car they were riding in slammed into a wall in Henderson early this morning, police said.

About 12:30 a.m. a blue 1995 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Sean Larimer, 16, of Henderson was speeding eastbound on Silver Springs Parkway and crashed into a cinder block wall that surrounds the Creekside development at Pinion Springs Drive.

Only Larimer and a passenger in the back seat survived the wreck, Officer Shane Lewis said. They were in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The Clark County coroner's office this morning had not released the names of the teens who died. Police said they may have been students at Green Valley High School.

Investigating the crash scene, Officer Roger Matuszak said the front-seat passenger may have been wearing a seat belt, but the impact was so forceful that "it didn't matter."

Police believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.

By 10:30 a.m. the first bouquets of flowers had been placed at the crash site.

A woman placed a dozen roses and a mixed bouquet at the crash site, but declined to be interviewed by reporters.

Fredna Hake, who lives at Wigwam Avenue and Valle Verde Drive, has a daughter who is a freshman at Coronado High School. The girl went to the homecoming dance three weeks ago at Green Valley High School with one of the victims.

"We just got the pictures back," Hake said. "I can't believe this is happening."

The crash site is across the street from Silver Springs Park and next to the Silver Springs Recreation Center, where the Henderson Police Department has a community policing office.

A police officer was in the office working on paperwork and heard the crash. He was the first person on the scene, Matuszak said. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who was on Valle Verde Drive, about a half-mile away, also heard it.

Witnesses told police they didn't see the car's brake lights before the car hit the wall. There were no skid marks on the street. A piece of the car's brake rotor lay inches from the crumbled wall this morning. The rear view mirror was in a bush.

As teenagers drove by pointing at the crash site, Amir Mabrouk, who lives in the Creekside development, said he knew the teens involved in the crash.

He recalled a program at his school called "Every 15 Minutes," a program cautioning teens not to drink and drive. The title refers to a statistic that every 15 minutes, someone in the United States is killed in an alcohol- or drug-related crash.

Lewis said the police department did an "Every 15 Minutes" presentation at Green Valley High School in September.

"This is the real (stuff), and it really hits home," Mabrouk said, adding that his parents won't let him get his license even though he is 16. "When I get a license, I won't drink, that's for sure."

Tami Bigler, who lives at Valle Verde Drive and Escondido Place, stopped her car at the crash scene and said she feared her 14-year-old daughter, a freshman at Green Valley High School, may have been friends with the victims.

She said she doesn't permit her daughter to ride in cars with other teens.

"When you get a car load of kids together, it's more apt for things like this to happen," she said.

"It's frightening to be a parent when you hear these kinds of things," she added. "Unfortunately, drinking is part of being a teen, and they don't think anything can happen to them."