Woman run over, killed on I-15 after alleged argument with taxicab driver

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 11:02 a.m.

A woman who slapped a cabdriver and got out of his taxi after he pulled over alongside Interstate 15 early this morning was killed when she was run over by several vehicles on the freeway, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

The woman initially was struck and killed by oncoming traffic on the southbound side of the freeway about 3:20 a.m. and was dead at the scene, Trooper Kevin Honea said.

A Nellis Cab driver had picked up the woman and her female friend at the Rio just moments before the incident, Honea said, noting that the cabbie told authorities he initially wanted to refuse the fare.

Rob Stewart, a spokesman for the Nevada Taxicab Authority, which is also investigating the incident, said the driver told investigators that the woman who was killed appeared to be drunk and was belligerent.

Honea said it was not immediately known whether alcohol was a factor in the incident.

Stewart said the woman got mad at the driver, accusing him of speeding. The driver said he wasn't speeding and there is nothing to indicate that he was speeding, Stewart said.

However, Stewart said, "I had not heard that he (the cabbie) initially tried to refuse the fare."

The death and the investigation backed up southbound morning rush hour traffic on I-15 to the Spaghetti Bowl until about 7:45 a.m.

Honea said the cab had gone about 100 yards southbound on I-15 when the woman "slapped the driver upside the head." That prompted the cabbie to pull over just south of the Flamingo Road onramp. The cabdriver called his supervisor and Nevada Taxicab Authority investigators.

"The woman got out of the cab and walked northbound until she was out of the driver's site," Honea said, noting that the woman's female friend remained in the cab.

Stewart said the Nellis Cab was not equipped with a video camera.

Honea and Stewart said investigators have determined that the cab driver did not strike the passenger.

Honea said that as the cabbie was giving his statement to a Taxicab Authority investigator, about 10 minutes after he had pulled over, they heard a screech of brakes just north of them and caught a glimpse of the crash.

Investigators are trying to find out what happened to the woman before she was hit. Honea said the Taxicab Authority investigator, before getting to the taxi, drove up and down the nearby ramp and didn't see the woman. The Highway Patrol didn't receive any calls about a woman on the freeway.

Witnesses told investigators that the first car hit the woman with a glancing blow and that at least two other vehicles ran her over, Honea said.

The drivers who struck the woman stopped and gave statements to the Nevada Highway Patrol, Honea said. No one was immediately cited, he said.

None of the names of those involved in either the taxi incident or the subsequent crash were released this morning.

The name of the dead woman was being withheld until relatives could be notified.

The woman's friend was transported by police to an undisclosed residence in the area of Windmill Road and Pollock Drive, just off Interstate 215 in Southeast Las Vegas -- the intended destination of the cab ride, authorities said.

It was not known if the two women were related, Honea said.

Stewart said the women gave the cabdriver only the one destination. There was $5.20 cents on the meter when the cabbie pulled over, Stewart said.

Stewart said the cabbie was "pretty upset" about the incident and sent home by the company.

No citations were issued by the Taxi Authority "and none are anticipated," Stewart said.