Monday, March 14, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.
At least nine people died over the weekend from injuries suffered in a string of traffic collisions.
One collision, a head-on that killed four, also injured a Metro Police officer who reportedly had been chasing the car that caused the crash.
Few details were available this morning about the collision, which occurred about 2:30 p.m. Sunday on U.S. 95 north of Indian Springs Air Force Base and kept the highway closed for about six hours.
A yellow car speeding north appeared to swerve and crossed over into oncoming traffic, slamming into a car carrying a family of three, Metro spokeswoman Carla Alston said.
The accident occurred on a two-lane stretch of U.S. 95 where there is no median. The driver of the first car and all three people in the car it hit were pronounced dead at the scene.
A Metro officer, who swerved to avoid debris, rolled his car and was later airlifted by helicopter to University Medical Center's Trauma Unit, police said.
Metro Undersheriff Doug Gillespie would not confirm or deny whether the officer, whose name was not released this morning, was pursuing the first vehicle but he said the officer had not been dispatched to the crash.
But Alston said the officer began following the car after he and a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper sitting just across the Nye County line clocked it at 106 mph.
Detectives had yet to get a formal statement from the officer this morning, Alston said.
Gillespie said the officer, who lived in Indian Springs, was part of the resident officer program.
Metro, Nevada Highway Patrol and Nye County Sheriff's deputies closed the highway in both directions for about six hours.
It was one of at least four separate deadly crashes that occurred from Friday through Sunday night.
Earlier Sunday three people, including a 6-year-old, were killed when a Toyota SUV struck the 1996 Mercury Villager they were riding in, Metro Police said.
The Toyota was traveling north on Fremont Street as the Mercury was moving east on Sahara Avenue.
Witnesses told police that the Toyota did not have its headlights on and did not stop for a red light at the intersection. The Toyota's front struck the right side of the Mercury, partially ejecting two of the minivan's passengers, police said.
Both of those people, whose names were not released this morning, were pronounced dead by paramedics, police said. A third passenger in the minivan died after arriving at a local hospital.
The Toyota's driver, 29-year-old Ricardo Alvardo-Romero, was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries and was later charged with four counts of felony DUI and other traffic violations. The driver of the minivan, 42-year-old Luz Villamilroma of Las Vegas, suffered moderate injuries.
The accident was under investigation this morning.
The child was the second to die over the weekend as a result of traffic collision injuries.
An 8-year-old Las Vegas girl, Olivia Frenzese, died Saturday afternoon from the head injuries she suffered when a traffic collision knocked her out of a minivan driven by her father Friday morning.
A 2002 Lexus convertible had broadsided Olivia's father's Toyota Sienna minivan about 8 a.m. Friday as it crossed Jones Boulevard on Patrick Lane.
Olivia, who police said was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from a side window and hit her head on a light pole. Detectives later determined her father, 35-year-old Ronald Franzese, was at fault for the incident, which occurred as he tried to move through a line of stopped cars.
He was cited for a misdemeanor right-of-way violation.
Failure to yield was also blamed in a Saturday night crash that killed a motorcyclist.
The 56-year-old motorcyclist was killed when he was struck by a Ford pickup heading west on East Horizon Drive in Henderson.
According to Henderson Police, the 19-year-old driver of the pickup failed to yield while turning onto Rebel Road. The motorcyclist, whose name had not been released this morning, was pronounced dead at the scene and his wife, who was riding with him on the motorcycle, was taken to University Medical Center's Trauma Unit by Henderson Fire Department paramedics, police said.
The incident was under investigation Friday by Henderson Police, who had not charged the pickup driver after he volunteered for a blood test.
Also, a bicyclist remained in critical condition this morning after an SUV struck a bicycle on Mountain Vista near Tropicana Avenue, Metro Police said.
Officers said the bicyclist, whose name and age were not released this morning, turned into the path of the 2002 Mazda Tribute driven by Trina Vaughn-Hunter, 33, on Moutain Vista. Witnesses told police the rider turned into the path of the Mazda, forcing the driver to swerve to avoid a collision.
The bicyclist was taken to Sunrise Hosital in critical condition. The collision was under investigation this morning.
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