Metro rookie hits 3 vehicles en route to call

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 9:58 a.m.

A rookie police officer answering an emergency call lost control of the patrol car she was driving and hit three other vehicles at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive, police said.

None of the five people in the vehicles, all waiting at a red light in southbound lanes on MLK, were injured in the 4:30 p.m. crash on Thursday, police said

A block-long stretch of southbound MLK was closed to traffic for three hours while police investigators gathered evidence and took photographs.

The police patrol car was traveling west on Vegas and attempted to make a right turn onto MLK, police said.

"I froze," said Raymond Deleon, 48, of Henderson, who was driving a Discovery Land Rover.

Deleon works at the North Las Vegas Airport and was heading home, he said.

"I had a frozen fish, a tuna fish, in the car," Deleon said. "Not anymore."

For Ruby Chahal, 28, who was driving to work at Treasure Island, the flashing lights and siren of the patrol car caused her to try and back up, but she was unable to avoid the crash.

"It was a surprise," Chahal said. Her Nissan Sentra would not start and was towed away later.

"I tried to start it, but no luck," Chahal, who came from Northern Indian to Las Vegas three years ago, said.

A third car, which was hit first in the left-hand turn lane, deployed its airbags; no one from that car was available for comment after the accident.

S. Kang, a Metro officer in training, approached the people waiting for police to release their cars.

"I apologize," Kang said to them.

Metro Sgt. Joe Ojeda said the accident is still under investigation.