Man hit after cars try to miss him

Monday, Feb. 14, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

A Henderson man jumped out of a Chevrolet SUV on Mountain Vista Street and then ran back and forth in oncoming traffic until he was hit by a car, police said Sunday.

Henderson Police answered a 911 call at 7:11 p.m. Sunday from motorists who had seen the man jump out of his vehicle, police said.

"We almost hit him," Janet Wilson, a passenger in a car driven by Ray Sanchez said.

Sanchez told police he saw the man running west across the street from the eastern sidewalk on Mountain Vista near Whitney Mesa Avenue.

Eventually a motorist, 37-year-old Veronica Melton of Henderson, hit the pedestrian, police said.

"He stopped right in front of my car," Melton said. "He ran back and forth across the street. I don't understand what he was doing."

Metro Police traffic investigators identified the injured man as 27-year-old Michael Karr of Henderson. He was taken to Sunrise Hospital's trauma center in critical condition, police said.

Police said it appeared that Melton tried to stop as the man ran into her path, meaning that the cause of the accident appears to be pedestrian error. No charges have been filed.

In a separate incident earlier Sunday, a 30-year-old Las Vegas man, Matthew Latham, was taken to University Medical Center for life-threatening injuries about 4 a.m. after he tried crossing Flamingo Road east of Valley View Boulevard, police said. Witnesses said Latham ran north across Flamingo and into the path of a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country van.

The van's driver, 37-year-old Zelijko Blanusa, tried to stop, but the front of the vehicle struck the pedestrian, police said.

No charges have been filed and Metro traffic investigators are still investigating.