Police pursuit ends in accident

Heather Rawlyk

Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 9:54 a.m.

A Las Vegas man and a passenger escaped injury Monday afternoon when their car became lodged under a semi-truck during a police chase that ended at Sandhill Road and Wyoming Avenue.

Metro Police tried to stop 27-year-old Jason Goins about 3 p.m. for a minor traffic violation when Goins fled in a green Chrysler LHS.

Police decided to call off the pursuit after the car started going faster.

"It was just too dangerous and traffic was too heavy," Metro spokesman Sgt. Rick Barela said.

Goins continued to speed, unaware of a stop sign ahead of him, police said. Goins tried to brake and skidded 50 feet through the intersection.

The Chrysler slammed into a Little Caesars semi-truck and became lodged underneath it.

Goins and his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the Chrysler, were left unharmed when the windshield and front section of the car's roof caved in because their seats reclined into a complete horizontal position, Barela said.

The two crawled out of the car without a scratch, Barela said. Police surrounded the pair and handcuffed them.

Goins was wanted on four misdemeanor warrants, including traffic violations and domestic battery, Barela said. Goins' girlfriend had one misdemeanor warrant on a domestic battery charge.

The driver will now be charged with a felony charge of evading police, Barela said.

He added that it was amazing that Goins, who is 5-foot-10 and weighs over 400 pounds, made it through the collision without injury.

"The young man's seat actually broke and he laid straight back," Barela said. "The girlfriend reclined her seat and laid backward too. If they hadn't done that they would have been very injured."

Barela pointed out a phrase on the back of Goins' T-shirt that said "Survival of the Biggest."

Bob Engels, who lives nearby on Sandhill Avenue, said he was in his back yard when he heard a skid and "an explosion."

"I jumped over the wall and thought, 'My God, these people are going to need some help by the looks of their car,' " he said. "Then I saw the woman passenger just crawl right out.

"I thought, 'I can't believe it,' and then I saw the male passenger crawl out by himself," he said. "I couldn't believe they just crawled out without a scratch. And he is a really big guy, too."