crime:

Police: Man impaired on drugs drove on sidewalk, struck bicyclist

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.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By stevem

6/30/09 at 10:57 a.m.

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hmmmm...

didn't an earlier story on this have ramon as the driver?
By dart330

6/30/09 at 11:42 a.m.

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Isn't it illegal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk?
By OG

6/30/09 at 11:44 a.m.

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Honestly, where is the freakin' lynch mob when it comes to pedestrian safety in this city? All the partisan outrage over "news" out of D.C. - what a waste of energy. Instead of trying to change the world, why don't we start with 'lil old Las Vegas and make sure than no more pedestrians (on sidewalks no less), 8 year old boys, or young college kids just starting their lives, are killed by ANOTHER drunk driver?

Seriously drunk drivers, be glad when you get arrested you go to jail - so you don't see how ashamed we are of all of you.

I hope the driver rots in prison.
By revtomperl

6/30/09 at 12:34 p.m.

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As a frequent pedestrian I have some really mixed feelings about all of this. The driver should do serious jail time. The rider of the bike should not have been where he was. Bike riders assume the right of way on sidewalks and often don't bother to alert the pedestrians as to their presence and at times have brushed me. Besides bike riders in this city often do not observe the provisions of the motor vehicle code that they ride on the right side of the street and observe laws as if they were autos. Drivers of motor vehicles need to respect the presence of bikes. I think we all need to work on our behaviors. In the iron curtain days in Russian block countries a driver like that would have been quickly executed. Something for all of you to consider.
By davidwayneosedach

6/30/09 at 3:10 p.m.

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Like an alcohol related car death a drug related car death should get serious prison time. A person's life was erased because the other one drove while being high.