Accidents snarl traffic; man found dead

Friday, Oct. 10, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

The Nevada Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a man found in a pickup truck that ran off the road Thursday in Red Rock Canyon, Trooper Angie Wolff said.

The accident was one of many Thursday, including two major one that snarled traffic in Las Vegas but did not cause any serious injuries, police said.

The 39-year-old Las Vegas man was found with a pickup truck with Utah license plates, Wolff said.

"He had been cited for not having Nevada plates in the past," she said.

The identify of the victim will be released by the coroner's office once his family is notified.

The truck appears to have run off State Route 159 and rolled several times, Wolff said. Several open cans of beer were found at the scene near Bonnie Springs Ranch, Wolff said.

About 8 a.m. Thursday, the Highway Patrol handled five separate accidents involving nine cars on Interstate 15 after a diesel fuel spill on the highway, Wolff said.

At 2 p.m., a tanker truck spilled 100 gallons of cream across I-15 near Sahara Avenue, closing all three northbound lanes, Wolff said.

A Las Vegas Paving truck crashed into the rear of the tanker, but there were no injuries, she said. The Nevada Department of Transportation covered the spilled cream with sand.

And not far from the spilled cream scene, a truck lost two sheets of glass, resulting in broken glass on one lane of I-15, Wolff said.