Pedestrian killed by car a block from home

Jen Lawson

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

Every day 65-year-old Dolores Moose took the bus to and from Mermaids Casino on Fremont Street where she worked the late shift waiting tables, hoping to put aside enough money to buy a car.

The bus stop was only about a block away from her mobile home park at Lake Mead Boulevard near Nellis Boulevard, but that didn't keep her son from worrying about her being out late at night.

"I've always been really concerned that someday my mom is going to get hit," 40-year-old Chris Baker of Las Vegas said. "Being out on the street, anything could happpen."

His worst fear came true Tuesday when Moose, a devout Catholic and grandmother of 11, was struck by a car as she crossed Lake Mead shortly before 3 a.m.

The driver didn't stop, and Moose lay injured with two broken legs and internal injuries on the shoulder of the road for 10 or 15 minutes until a passing motorist spotted her.

Moose died at 6:50 a.m. at University Medical Center.

"She almost made it home," said Christine Kelley of Henderson, Moose's 42-year-old daughter. "The person who did this ruined a lot of people's lives."

Moose left work at about 2 a.m. Investigators aren't certain what time she stepped off the bus.

In automobile crashes the impact often causes parts of the vehicle to break off, which could yield clues that would help police determine the color and type of car involved. But in this case, there was no debris, Detective Corey Moon said.

Based on where she was found, it's possible she was in the crosswalk when she crossed Lake Mead, Moon said.

"The question we have is, what color were the (traffic) lights?" he said. Without any witnesses, police will have no way of determining that.

At 2:52 a.m., a married couple driving along Lake Mead thought they spotted a person in the shoulder, Moon said. They made a U-turn and found Moose, then flagged down a Metro officer.

Moose was still conscious and managed to give her name, but died of her injuries a few hours later.

Baker said the call he got Tuesday was the one he feared he would get every time he heard about a pedestrian being struck.

"My dad called and said my mom is no longer alive," he said. "I couldn't believe it actually happened."

Moose and her husband were planning to get a car, Kelley said, but could not yet afford it.

Baker and Kelley consider the way their mother died to be a sad twist of fate because she had such a strong religious faith and believed God would protect her from harm.

"She loved God and I don't understand how you could believe in God so much and then have this happen," Kelley said.

Moose's children think the person who hit her is a coward for not pulling over after the collision, but they're still holding out hope that the driver will surrender to police.

Hit and run is a felony carrying a penalty of one to six years in prison, Moon said.

"He or she will live with this for the rest of their lives," Baker said of the motorist who struck his mother. "They need to do the right thing and turn themselves in."

Anyone with information about the collision can call Moon at 229-3538 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.