Four teens injured while performing auto stunt

Lynn Doan

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Four Las Vegas teens under the influence of alcohol were injured in a car accident Wednesday after the driver attempted to perform a stunt and lost control of the car, Metro Police said.

About 4 a.m. in the 3900 block of Rawhide Street, Calvin Gibson, 19, failed to stop at a stop sign at Annie Oakley Drive and then attempted the "bootlegging maneuver," a popular movie stunt that requires the driver to speed in a straight line and then pull the emergency break so the car spins around, Metro Police said.

The 1996 Honda that Gibson was driving slid off the road and knocked down 85 feet of chain-link fence in front of Tomiyasu Elementary School before striking a street light pole, Metro Police Sgt. Frank Weigand said.

Weigand said the teens were lucky that the Honda did not slam into a large tree nearby.

"If it had, we probably would be dealing with a quadruple fatality," Weigand said.

Gibson and one of the passengers ran away from the wreck but were located by police a short distance away.

Gibson and all three passengers, two boys and one girl ages 15, 16 and 17, were transported to the University Medical Center early Wednesday morning and treated for moderate to serious injuries. Weigand said one of the boys, the left rear passenger, suffered a broken leg.

After being released from the hospital, Gibson was charged with felony DUI, hit and run, reckless driving and other misdemeanor alcohol offenses.

All four teens admitted to being under the influence of alcohol, Weigand said. However, police said the three passengers would not be cited or arrested until an investigation is complete.

Gibson told police that he bought the alcohol from a store without being asked for identification but couldn't remember which store.

"Kids do it all the time," Weigand said. "They can just go in and buy beer."

In November 2003, a 16-year-old boy drove drunk and killed three passengers, all 15, in Henderson. The teens had reportedly been drinking at a friend's home before the wreck, Henderson Police said.

But Weigand said Wednesday's incident reminded him more of the death of a 16-year-old girl who fell off the roof of a moving Chevrolet Blazer while attempting to "car surf" with her friends in the parking lot of Shadow Ridge High School.

"There's just no reason for anyone to do these kinds of things," said Weigand, who said the teenagers should be wearing "I'm stupid" signs around their necks. "It's just stupid, no other way to put it."

Weigand said the Gibson should have been thinking, "It was dumb for me to be doing the stunt at all. But, boy, am I really dumb to be doing it under the influence with passengers in the car."