Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 10:44 a.m.
Crash location
The driver of a 1990 GMC Suburban struck a 43-year-old man while he was riding his bicycle on a sidewalk on Desert Inn Road, Metro Police said.
About 3:14 p.m. Monday, police officers arrived at East Desert Inn Road, just west of South Sandhill Road, where the bicyclist was caught and dragged under the GMC. The man riding a red Schwinn Traverse mountain bike was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel, police said.
According to witnesses and evidence at the scene, the GMC was going west on Desert Inn when it ran up onto the north sidewalk, striking the rear of the bicycle, police said. The GMC continued traveling on the sidewalk for a short distance, with the bicyclist trapped beneath the SUV, police said.
The Clark County Coroner's Office has not identified the bicyclist.
The driver, 50-year-old Charley A. Matanza of Las Vegas, failed a field sobriety test, police said. Neither the driver, nor his passenger, 57-year-old Ramon Matanza of Las Vegas, were injured in the collision, police said.
Charley Matanza was taken to the Clark County Detention Center where he was booked on a charge of driving under the influence of drugs causing death, detention center records show.
This is the 44th traffic-related death in Metro Police jurisdiction in 2009, police said. The collision remains under investigation by Metro's Accident Investigation Section.
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