New Year’s Eve traffic accident claims one

Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 10:33 a.m.

A 52-year-old Las Vegas woman was killed Wednesday in a crash on Charleston Boulevard at Arlington Street, Metro Police said.

Shari Lynne Simmons was pronounced dead at University Medical Center shortly after the crash, police said.

The crash occurred about 3:20 p.m. A 1996 Mazda Protege driven by Grant Simmons, 47, of Las Vegas was heading west on Charleston in the left turn lane and tried to turn left onto Arlington. Eastbound traffic in the two inside lanes had backed up from Nellis Boulevard and Simmons attempted his left turn between the stopped vehicles, Detective Doug Nutton said.

The front of Simmons' car hit the passenger side of a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder driven by Marisela Sanchez, 27, of Las Vegas, which was heading east on Charleston, police said.

Simmons and his passenger were taken to University Medical Center. Shari Lynne Simmons died shortly after arriving, Nutton said. Grant Simmons was treated for minor injuries and released. Sanchez suffered moderate injuries and was treated at the scene by medics.

This is the 126th traffic-related fatality in Metro's jurisdiction. There were 128 fatal crashes in 2002, police said.