No charges filed in fatal cab crash

Heather Rawlyk

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

The Nevada Taxicab Authority and Metro Police are investigating a collision that killed a Missouri man and injured five others Sunday night at Valley View Boulevard and Viking Road.

As of this morning, authorities had not determined whether criminal charges will be filed.

Stuart Stanze, 51, of Eureka, Mo., was killed about 7:15 p.m. Sunday after the driver of the cab he was a passenger in allegedly bypassed a stop sign exiting the Rio and drove across Valley View, colliding with a 1998 Acura. The collision sent the cab into a light pole and parking garage wall, killing Stanze, who was riding in the front seat of the cab.

The cabdriver, 36-year-old Goran Kopic, was taken to University Medical Center with serious injuries and discharged Monday afternoon.

The two other passengers in the cab and two people in the Acura were also taken to UMC for minor injuries and released Sunday night.

Metro Sgt. Frank Weigand said everyone involved in the accident except for Stanze was wearing a seat belt. However, Weigand said because of where the cab was damaged, a seat belt would not have saved his life.

Yvette Moore, administrator for the Taxicab Authority, said Monday that Kopic's permit has been suspended until the investigation is complete, but no charges had been filed.

"Generally the cab company themselves will pull a driver off the road until they've seen the investigation," Moore said. "This is an extraordinary situation, and there is a lot to look into."

According to Moore, Kopic, who has been a cabdriver in Las Vegas for the past two years, has never had a complaint reported against him.

When asked if the Taxicab Authority receives complaints about speeding or reckless driving, Moore said: "The complaints we receive are across the whole gamut. Complaints come in like a driver wasn't courteous or charged them too much for a ride and things like that. We get a wide range of complaints."

Moore said Sunday's fatal collision is "a tremendously uncommon occurrence in our industry and of course a tragedy."

"I have been with the Taxicab Authority for a little over a year, and this is the first passenger fatality I've seen," she said. "It's very uncommon for this to happen.

"Cabs are driving 24 hours a day here, 365 days a year, with over 17 million miles driven, and this is the first passenger fatality in a year."

Before hiring a potential cabdriver, the authority conducts a background and fingerprint check, drug test and review of a person's driving record, Moore said.

New drivers must also complete an eight-hour safety awareness class, she said. Cabdrivers are required to take a one-hour "refresher course" once a year thereafter to renew their permits, she said. "They learn and know not to speed or drive recklessly," she said.

Weigand said Sunday the surviving passengers who had been inside Kopic's cab during the collision said they had been telling Kopic to slow down and that "he was driving like an idiot."

Moore would not comment on Weigand's statement, but said she hopes Sunday's collision will remind both cabdrivers and local driver's alike to obey traffic laws and take their time on the roads.