Six injured in head-on crash

Mary Manning <mary.manning@lasvegassun.com>

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005 | 11:30 a.m.

Six people, including two children, were taken to area hospitals Monday night after a head-on crash on East Tropicana Avenue near the Wetlands Nature Park left four of the victims with critical injuries, Metro Police said.

Police said 24-year-old Ronald C. Pedroza of Henderson driving a 2006 Pontiac sedan westbound on Tropicana east of Hollywood Circle about 8:15 p.m. when he apparently lost control of the vehicle and it crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a 2003 Nissan sedan driven by a Las Vegas woman whose name and age had not been released by police this morning.

The Pontiac rolled over onto its passenger side and caught fire. Metro officers pulled Pedroza, who was unconscious, from the Pontiac just before it was consumed by flames, police and firefighters said.

Pedroza suffered critical injuries in the crash, as did the driver of the Nissan, 26-year-old Olga Perez, and two of her passengers, 55-year-old Esther Perez and 60-year-old Francisco Perez, both of Las Vegas.

Two girls who had been in the Nissan were not seriously hurt, police said. Eight-year-old Cynthia Perez suffered minor injuries and Brenda Perez, 10, suffered moderate injuries.

Esther Perez remained in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning, said Samy Perez, her son, who was at the hospital. He said his father, Francisco Perez, was in stable condition and suffered broken bones, while his two nieces, Cynthia and Brenda Perez, were released last night from the hospital, he said.

Olga Perez remained at Sunrise Hospital with a broken pelvis this morning, he said.

That's where Karime Rodriguez found her boyfriend, Pedroza, as well on Monday night.

She had burst into tears upon driving up at the accident scene and learning that one of the cars was a 2006 green Pontiac.

She said she had been waiting for her boyfriend, Pedroza, to pick her up, and when Pedroza did not arrive within 40 minutes from a drive that usually takes 15 minutes, she said she knew something had happened.

The investigation into the crash prompted the closure of Tropicana east of Boulder Highway for almost three hours.