Bicyclist back on ventilator; driver may be cited

Monday, March 29, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

District Attorney David Roger's decision late Friday to seek charges against 24-year-old driver who hit a 13-year-old bicyclist provided little comfort to the boy's parents over the weekend.

Doctors at University Medical Center had to put the boy, Manuel Cazares, back on a ventilator over the weekend, the family's attorney, Jerry Wiese, said. A hospital nursing supervisor said Cazares was in critical condition late Sunday.

Lorana Gaspar, the boy's mother, said she has been visiting Manuel at the hospital's intensive care unit every morning.

"All I want is for him to get better," Gaspar said Sunday.

Manuel Cazares said he hopes his son will still get to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer when he grows up.

The March 22 accident that left the boy hospitalized will be reviewed by the district attorney's case-assessment unit this week, Roger said.

Earlier, Metro Police had said that both Erin Young, the driver, and Cazares violated traffic and safety laws and that neither would likely be charged because police wanted to avoid citing Cazares.

Young was reaching for her ringing cell phone while driving, but the boy was riding his bike in the crosswalk when he should have been walking it, police said.

Cazares, a seventh grader, was riding his bike to Courtney Middle School when he was hit by Young in her Toyota 4Runner, which was westbound on East Tropicana at Morris Street.

Young changed lanes to avoid a car in her path that had slowed at a crosswalk across Tropicana that is marked with a sign and flashing lights, police said. The crosswalk is not in a school zone, so there is no crossing guard.

"In this case, the driver was distracted by attempting to answer a ringing cell phone," Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said. "A significant number of accidents in the Las Vegas Valley are due to failure to pay full attention to driving. This is another example of this."

Most likely, the charge will be failure of the driver to pay attention, but could include passing a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk, said Maggie Saunders, pedestrian and bicycle safety program coordinator at the Transportation Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"A lot of motorists don't even know that that's a law," Saunders said.

Southern Nevada motorists tend to drive distracted, Saunders said.

"Be aware, especially in the morning when children are going to school," she said. "I think motorists here have a high disregard for pedestrians and bicyclists.

"I do think it's good the district attorney and undersheriff are bringing this to light," she added.

There have been two bicyclist fatalities in the area this year, she said.

Saunders visited the scene of the crash shortly after the accident and said Manuel's mother and father heard noises and sirens, came out of their apartment and discovered their son had been struck.

Wiese, the attorney, said he has asked Metro Police and the district attorney's office to call him if Manuel is cited.

"However, I don't anticipate that will happen," he said.

While the driver may have been at fault, she is in "a mental hell" of her own after striking the child, Wiese said.

"My only interest in this case is to help these people (Manuel's parents), to prevent them from going into bankruptcy," he said. "I'm not taking a fee on this."

Cazares is not insured. An account has been set up and contributions may be made at any Wells Fargo Bank branch, Wiese said.

The account number is 6604701752.