One pedestrian dies, another injured in two traffic accidents

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

One pedestrian died and a second pedestrian was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries after two separate collisions in the Las Vegas Valley Wednesday night, Metro Police said.

Police were investigating the circumstances of a woman who was crossing Cameron Street north of Tropicana Avenue outside of a crosswalk when she was struck by a 2005 Ford pickup truck. The injured woman was identified by police as Miao Zhong, 44, of Las Vegas.

The woman was taken to University Medical Center's Trauma Center after the 5:28 p.m. accident and was on life support this morning, officers said.

Police said that the Ford was traveling south on Cameron in a single travel lane as the pedestrian crossed the street more than 300 feet north of Tropicana, where there is no crosswalk or traffic light.

Pickup truck driver Ron Baldridge, 43, of Las Vegas could not avoid the accident and no charges have been filed, police said.

Traffic was shut down at the intersection for more than two hours.

Across town, police were called to the scene of a woman who was struck while crossing Harmon Avenue near the former Alexis Park resort about 7 p.m. She was not walking in a crosswalk or at a traffic light, police said.

The contents of the woman's purse, scattered across the northern westbound lanes of Harmon, contained a map of Las Vegas.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and police blocked traffic from Koval Lane to Paradise Road while they investigated. The driver stopped in the left-turn lane on Harmon.

Police said the coroner's office will release the dead woman's name after she is identified and her family has been notified.