Officer injured in car wreck in which four died identified

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

Metro Police this morning identified the officer seriously injured in Sunday's fatal crash that killed four people including a 9-week-old girl as Officer Kevin McClary.

According to a department statement, McClary, 44, had attempted to pull over a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier traveling more than 100 mph along northbound U.S. 95 near the Nye County line about 2:20 p.m. Sunday. The driver, a 20-year-old Las Vegas man whose name was not released, failed to stop and continued driving in a reckless manner, leaving the roadway several times, police said.

McClary, who police said had turned on the police car's red lights and siren, chased the driver into Nye County, where the Chevrolet traveled into oncoming traffic and slammed into a 2000 Subaru Forester carrying a family from Cedar City, Utah. The collision occurred near the exit for Mercury, close to mile marker 8, according to police.

The Chevrolet's driver and the three occupants of the Subaru, a 31-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman and a 9-week-old girl, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names had not been released by the Nye County Sheriff's Department, which functions as a coroner's office in that jurisdiction, as of this morning.

After the two vehicles collided, the officer lost control of his patrol car, which rolled several times in the adjacent desert, according to police. He was airlifted to University Medical Center, where he remained in serious condition this morning.

McClary, a Las Vegas resident, is part of the three-person resident officer section for Indian Springs. As such, the officers work as "jack(s) of all trades" and handle a range of crimes -- including vehicle pursuits -- in Clark County's far-flung communities, Detective Doug Nutton of Metro's traffic investigation section said.

The circumstances surrounding the incident, including how fast McClary was traveling when the vehicle rolled and whether the driver of the Chevrolet was intoxicated or fleeing police, remained under investigation this morning.