Valley has seen share of similar crashes

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

Although the death toll was higher in Monday's bus stop crash, there have been other similar incidents in the last several years, most of which involved drivers who were either drunk or had drugs in their systems.

On May 3, 2004, Nicolas Serrano-Villagrana crashed his truck into a Las Vegas bus stop, killing 4-year-old Angel Avendano and hospitalizing his 32-year-old mother, Eulogia Avendano, and a second woman, Nijailia Altitijka Graves.

A Clark County jury found Serrano-Villagrana guilty of three counts of felony driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm. He was legally drunk and had cocaine in his system when he hit the bus stop on Eastern Avenue and U.S. 95, according to court records.

District Judge Joe Bonaventure sentenced the undocumented Mexican immigrant to 12 to 40 years in prison.

It was not the only previous case in which a vehicle had hit a bus shelter, killing someone in the process.

On Christmas Day in 2003, 49-year-old Bruce Lynn Kirton was killed while at a bus shelter near Valley View Boulevard at Flamingo Road. A vehicle ran a red light at that intersection, hit another car and crashed into the bus stop.

John W. Olney was later charged with felony drunken driving in connection with the crash.

Another drunken driver was sentenced to two to five years in prison after crashing his pickup truck into a bus stop on Fremont Street near Charleston Boulevard in October 2002.

John Wan, 50, was struck by the truck driven by 63-year-old William Schwalbach. Schwalbach pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving.

There have been other incidents in which pedestrians were killed while walking or working along the edge of roadways as well.

In February 2004, driver Donna Rohr struck and killed 26-year-old landscaper Carlos Rodriguez-Baruch as he worked alongside Buffalo Drive. Police cited Rohr for speeding.

In March 2000, Jessica Williams hit and killed six teenagers who were picking up trash alongside Interstate 15. She was returning from an all-night party at the Valley of Fire and had marijuana metabolite in her blood. The teenagers were part of a juvenile detention cleanup crew.

Williams was convicted of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and sentenced to 18 to 48 years in prison. Her case is still under appeal because of questions of whether the marijuana substance in her blood was illegal under Nevada law.