Four die in weekend traffic accidents

Monday, Jan. 5, 2004 | 11:18 a.m.

Four people -- including two 16-year-olds -- died on valley roads during the weekend.

Sunday night friends and relatives held a candlelight vigil near the intersection of Vegas Valley Drive and Hollywood Boulevard, where 16-year-old Dustin Hall crashed about 1:30 a.m.

Metro Detective Bill Redfairn said some friends -- two boys and three girls -- called Hall for help after they got stuck four-wheeling in the desert.

Hall wasn't able to get the vehicle out of the dirt, so the boys asked Hall to take the three girls home while they waited for a tow truck. Moments later Hall lost control of his 1994 Dodge Dakota.

His speeding truck veered off the road, hit a cement barrier and flipped, Redfairn said.

Hall was wearing a seat belt, but it got cut on twisted metal and he was thrown from the vehicle. It's unusual for a seat belt to be severed during a crash, Redfairn said.

"It's a very bizarre accident," Redfairn said. "This is the first time I've seen that in 17 years."

The three girls were taken to University Medical Center. Two were treated and released and the third was kept overnight with several fractured bones.

Hall's father, Deric Hall, attended the vigil and said his son always tried to help people.

"I've lost a very loving son," Hall said. "Obviously, cars are dangerous for our kids."

His son's death had been preceded by two other traffic deaths Saturday night.

James Torrence, 46, of Las Vegas, and another man were crossing Las Vegas Boulevard North near Nellis Boulevard about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when they were struck by 1992 Buick Le Sabre, police said.

The driver, Diane Hal, 42, of Las Vegas, told police she did not see the two men, one of whom was riding a bicycle. The men were outside a crosswalk in a poorly lighted section of roadway, police said.

The man who was with Torrence died. His name had not been released this morning.

Torrence was in critical condition at University Medical Center after the accident, police said.

Police said it appeared that pedestrian error caused the fatal result, officers said. No charges had been filed against Hal late Sunday.

Less than an hour after that accident, about 6:20 p.m. Saturday, a woman was killed and two young children hurt when their car rear-ended a dump truck with a flat tire on U.S. 95 near Craig Road, Nevada Highway Patrol troopers said.

The 31-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, died at the scene of the crash.

Two children, ages 5 and 7, had been in the car with the woman. They were taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.

The woman had been driving a green Ford Taurus southbound in the fast lane and apparently didn't see the dump truck parked in the median emergency lane, troopers said. The car drove partially under the truck before rolling to a stop about 100 feet away, troopers investigating the crash said.

The truck driver was not injured. The highway patrol closed U.S. 95 for more than six hours as they investigated the crash.

Late Friday a 15-year-old passenger in a 2002 Chevy Tahoe died after suffering head injuries in a rollover in North Las Vegas.

About 11:45 p.m., Anna Lucy Corrillo, apparently was speeding north in the 3600 block of North Fifth Street when her vehicle swerved off the road, police said. Corrillo over-corrected and the Tahoe flipped onto its roof in a dirt lot.

Corrillo and five passengers, ages 4 to 17, survived the wreck, but Amanda Corrillo, 15, who was not wearing a seat belt, did not. She was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Anna Lucy Corrillo was hospitalized in serious condition over the weekend while each of her five passengers was in either stable or good condition.