Girl, 3 dies after being hit by truck

Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

A 3-year-old girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver near Flamingo Road and Edmond Street shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, but Metro Police tracked down the suspected driver and arrested him.

The child, identified by the Clark County Coroner's office as Paloma Contreras, apparently ran into the path of a pickup truck on Retablo Avenue. She is the second 3-year-old child who has died in a traffic accident this week, police said.

Police arrested 36-year-old Joey Manera of Las Vegas, who was driving a 1998 green Nissan pickup truck, near Fort Apache and Hacienda Avenue, police said.

Manera was taken to the Clark County Detention Center and charged with felony hit and run involving a death.

The child darted across Retablo from north to south outside of a crosswalk, police said, and news reports stated she was trying to reach an ice cream truck.

Paramedics pronounced the child dead at the scene. She is the 101st traffic death in Las Vegas or unincorporated Clark County this year.

On Tuesday night 3-year-old Victoria Dudley died in a crash at Interstate 215 and Losee Road that sent her father and two of her siblings to the hospital.

Harold "JR" Dudley is in critical condition as was his son, Gabriel, who turned 3 on Tuesday. Kiya Smith, a 10-year-old soccer player, was in serious condition. All were taken to University Medical Center after the crash.

Four people from a Ford Expedition that pulled in front of Dudley's minivan were also taken to UMC. Their names and conditions were unavailable.

Victoria was wearing a seat belt but was not in a car seat, as required by state law, although her brother was in a seat, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Honea said.

The Dudleys were returning home from soccer practice in a Dodge Caravan when a Ford Explorer apparently failed to stop at a stop sign on Losee a little after 8 p.m. Tuesday.