Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumblePickup truck driver flees after running over pedestrians
Possible driver sought; investigators say vehicle would have damage
Sunday, March 15, 2009 | 6:23 p.m.
Mirsha Rafael Gomez-Barajas
Crash location
UPDATED STORY: Man wanted for running over pedestrians arrested
A man and a woman walking in a parking lot in the southwest Las Vegas Valley on Sunday morning were run over by a pickup truck that left the scene of the collision, Metro Police said.
The woman, 28-year-old Rikki Lambert of Las Vegas, is in critical condition at University Medical Center, police said. The man, 30-year-old Jeffrey Melloway of Las Vegas, also was taken to UMC with moderate injuries, police said.
Officers were called at 10:04 a.m. Sunday to 3525 W. Russell Road, where a white 2007 Dodge crew cab pickup truck with Nevada plates LVPD3 backed over the two people and struck two parked cars before running into a building, police said.
The Dodge pickup then fled the parking lot without stopping or trying to aid the victims, police said.
Police are looking for 28-year-old Mirsha Rafael Gomez-Barajas of Las Vegas, who is believed to be the driver of the pickup.
The collision remains under investigation by Metro's Accident Investigation Section.
The pickup should have damage to the rear bumper, tailgate and tail light areas, police said.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the vehicle or driver is asked to call Metro Police Detective S. Lethbridge at (702) 828-3786, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Coolican: Henderson officials out of loop on police brutality case, raising red flags
- See mug shots of 16 arrested in stolen-property police sting
- Lumberjacks — ‘Where the Big Boys Eat’ — hiring for North Las Vegas location
- Berkley draws stark contrasts with Heller over immigration
- Howard Miller, prominent lawyer and ‘true Las Vegas native,’ dies at 68
- Short memories may serve president
- Two dead after accident in downtown Las Vegas
- Instant Analysis: Debating whether UNLV should continue series with San Diego State
- Police looking for man in white Ford Explorer
- Saying ‘No mas’ to government
Blogs
The Kats Report
Live color from the scene at Thomas & Mack Center: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Maybe he'll turn himself in after he sobers up.
Possibly another illegal trying to run away from the law which they HAVE NO RESPECT for at all. These people are rude on the road. I'm even surprised they actually are allowed to drive here. I dont want to stereotype but from my experience, the crazy and rude drivers that I have MOSTLY encountered are usually drivers from the country south of the US. (see "Man arrested for DUI in fatal collision with motorcycle" on this site...The driver of the pickup truck, Carlos Henriquez, 52, of Las Vegas, tried to leave the scene but was detained about a block from the crash, where his vehicle struck a fence, police said....)
Uh oh... Mirsha Rafael Gomez-Barajas. Imagine that. There seems to be a pattern here that is getting worse. Hope the victims make a full recovery. This could of happened to any of us or our families.
A bicyclist, a motorcyclist, people walking in a parking lot, people waiting for the bus, a woman waiting for a traffic light to change, visitors on the strip. Everyday people like you & I just waiting for one of these self-important jerks who think they are in Death Race 2000 to come along and kill. Las Vegas has WAY TOO MANY IDIOTS.
It's not the illegals, it's the people that think it's okay to drive drunk or have been driving drunk for soooooooooooooooo long without any repercussions. Why aren't we enforcing drunk driving laws? I'm looking at two DUI stories right now. One of the stories involves a 22 year old girl!!! Guaranteed she'll be driving again within the next 30 days.
I guess a lot of people don't see it yet. It's gettin' bad here. It's an explosion waiting to happen.
Las Vegas must institute and "code of conduct" for its own sake. The casinos are going to have to retrain the employees so that the customers are discouraged from spending the mortgage or the utility bill.
If Las Vegas fails, it's because they chose to fail. Right now is the time you cater to the local. You let them know when to call it a night.
Many casino execs are about now asking "how do we do this?" I'll tell ya, get to know the locals again. The locals are really the people that keep the casino economy running.
Get to know your employee's again and if that is done Vegas will breathe again. But right now, Vegas is suffocating itself with its greed and wanna-be-casino-boss mentality.
Everyone from the change girl to the security director needs to relearn how to treat a guest in the hotel/gaming areas of their establishment. The whole problem is the way that Las Vegas started treating its local clientele. Once that was accepted, they took their chance at the tourism industry and capitalized on it until, well, today. And now we see the complete failure and breakdown of greed in "unorganized" crime.
We see today what I saw in 1995. Back then when there was a problem, an issue, the pit boss threw out the guy or the crowd they didn't recognize. It was a local threiving economy. It was a western character that made it run. It wasn't mid western and it wasn't from the south either.
It took a certain crew of people to make Las Vegas. And only a certain type of person could work and thrieve here. You have to be a cowboy not a farmer to make this place work. This is a pahroh kind of place to work and live.
This may just be a piece of the puzzle that will modernize the great United States of America in the modern day. Perhaps an exodus of immigrants of legal and illegal status will return to their homeland in search of a better life, a better class of living. Maybe we will peak higher than ever before.
This is not a test of resolve but of utter weakness. The weak that displayed a level of class that they didn't deserve are now shallowed to their laziness. Those that prospered from their immigrant countrymen's relocation have suffered the ultimate disgrace, and it is well deserved.
This town has fallen victim to the Asian population and it's withdrawl to the greed of Steve Wynn and the corporations that influenced and financed the tribal gaming.
You all knew this was coming and you all failed as people to tell your fellow American what was at stake. You failed us and you failed yourself. You failed your family and you failed your God. You failed everyone.
What about Asians? And what about the town falling victim to them? Whats that about? I gotta say, they are a pretty quiet bunch.
Another mexican drunk driver? It's time for Nevada to start deporting every illegal they find.
California is a write-off because of this. Let's not allow our state to be decimated because of this illegal occupation.
License plate LVPD3 ? As in, Las Vegas Police Department? Before reporting an underage drinking party, consider what can happen after the beer falls into the hands of a cop.
All he needs to do to escape is have a friend drive him to the nearest frontier town on the Mexican border. He's gotten to be thinking about the alternatives to jail.
John86zz - what in the world does this have to do with a hit-n-run pickup truck driver? And why should a casino employee shoulder the responsibility of making sure someone isn't spending their mortgage or utility money. There's plenty of advertisement for GA - if people are addicted let them go get themselves some help - I don't want ANY casino knowing my business to the extent that they would know if I'm financially sound enough to be there gambling. Quite frankly - It's NONE OF THEIR DAMN BUSINESS! Now back to the topic at hand - the driver, given their long list of names - is probably back in Mexico by now.
Why pick on the poor illegal aliens? They are just doing what they can get away with. Our government allows them to come here. Our employers have no qualms about accepting their obviously falsified permanent resident alien cards and social security cards. They don't question why the person claims 25 dependents on their W-4 forms in order to have very little withholding tax taken out of their paycheck. The I.R.S. doesn't question why they don't file taxes annually like the rest of us tax paying citizens.Why should they pay taxes when they are allowed to get away without doing it? Why should they care that our tax dollars go towards their childrens education? Hell, now it looks as though they may start getting social security benefits that hard working, taxpaying U.S.citizens have been paying into for many years. They are just capitalizing on what our government allows them.Who cares that most of them are buying foreign vehicles and sending their disposable cash to Mexico?
If you want to place blame, put it on the shoulders of the politicians. People like Harry Reid. Politicians that are more concerned in potential Hispanic votes than doing what's right for America. They don't care that these illegals taking our jobs and ruining our economy. They're not going to take the politician's jobs. Why should they care? They're future is secure with fat pensions from our tax dollars.It's really not their problem.
I urge all readers that are fed up with this scenario to join NumbersUSA. We need to unite and make our voice heard by these career politicians. We need to let them know that they are there because we voted them in there. We need to let them know that their jobs are not secure if they continue to act with no regards to their constituents.
To make matters worse, when the victims recover from their injuries, they cannot file suit for restitution. Many, on the road today, lack financial responsibility. What happened to the laws that made it illegal to operate a vehicle without liability insurance?
Mark, while I agree with much of what you said the problem is that the politicians already know how most people feel when it comes to ILLEGAL Immigration - and they just plain don't give a fat rats ass about it. The politicians HAVE heard our voices - loud and clear - but as you say - they're jobs aren't in jeopardy so why should they care - the politicians owe favors up the ying-yang to big business thus BOTH parties turn a blind eye when it comes to the immigration problems in this country. They are in 'pay-back' mode to all the business that dumped thousands and thousands of dollars into their campaigns. I'm not sure what it would take - a revolution of some sort perhaps? - but what I DO know is that it doesn't seem to matter one bit who we vote into office - NONE of these politicians wind up serving the people who elected them - they serve only their own interests. They do only that which insures that THEIR wallets stay fat.
I have to totally agree with Markrhue. What taxes are they paying, you see them selling fruits on the streets,using carts to sell corn and mexi chips at 1.50-2.00 each, they wash cars for you at 10 bucks a car, okay were is all that money going too. What about paying taxes here in the states like we all have too. I am a born and raised mexican from here allmy life, my parents too and when I see them coming in from the borders and not just 1 or 2 or 10, there are thousands of them coming. Every time I walk into a store in the area I live its, HOLA and then theystart rambling on in spanish, I'm like EXCUSE me I dont speak SPANISH and plus its to learn ENGLISH now that your here ILLEGALLY. Especially when you go to the burger places its a hassle trying to order, casue they can never get it right, you have to repeat it over and over until they say please come to the window. It's VERY UPSETTING to have them come here and act as if its there city, there state there country. HELLO WAKE UP IT'S NOT....SAME TO YOU OUR MAYOR AND GOVENOR AND AND ALL STATE EMPLOYEES that keeps giving these people our tax payers monies as in FOOD STAMPS, AID as in MONEY and MEDICAL.. My son has no insurance and cant get any of the states help due to not being ILLEGAL or Pregnant or 62 and older, after all his hard work of paying taxes to support the ILLEGALS this is what he gets... Im reposting what Mark also states cause its 150% true.. GET THE HELL OUT ILLEGALS...
Why pick on the poor illegal aliens? They are just doing what they can get away with. Our government allows them to come here. Our employers have no qualms about accepting their obviously falsified permanent resident alien cards and social security cards. They don't question why the person claims 25 dependents on their W-4 forms in order to have very little withholding tax taken out of their paycheck. The I.R.S. doesn't question why they don't file taxes annually like the rest of us tax paying citizens.Why should they pay taxes when they are allowed to get away without doing it? benefits that hard working, taxpaying U.S.citizens have been paying into for many years. They are just capitalizing on what our government allows them.Who cares that most of them are buying foreign vehicles and sending their disposable cash to Mexico?
If you want to place blame, put it on the shoulders of the politicians. People like Harry Reid. I urge all readers that are fed up with this scenario to join NumbersUSA. We need to unite and make our voice heard by these career politicians. We need to let them know that they are there because we voted them in there. We need to let them know that their jobs are not secure if they continue to act with no regards to their constituents.
I hate to say this, but how did I know? How DID I know?
I had no idea that nearly killing pedestrians was such a hilarious circumstance, as the laughing grin on this loser clearly demonstrates.
If he IS here ilegally, he's probably also smiling because he knows the Dear Leader plans on including illegals and their families in his "free" government healthcare plan. He also knows that Harry Reid just destroyed any chance for eVerify to be implemented nationwide, so that means no business need worry about getting popped for hiring illegals that drive down everyones wages. Of course, that assumes you even have a wage to fret about, since the illegal will take your job, anyway.
Thanks, Harry Reid!! You really care about the well-being ordinary Nevadans and not the pursuit of getting an entire ethnic voting block to support you. Yay!!!
I forgot how every problem in this country relates to Illegal inmigrants, even mommy56835kids is blaming illegals, please let her know that her family was ilegal at one point...blame your grandparents for bringing you here.
Let's start sending every mexican home, we'll see how that works out...
It's also funny how people type hateful comments on newspaper articles like this one, but they will never show their faces! Hateful Cowards!
First it is dumb to blame it all on illegals. They aren't the whole problem or even a majority of the problem.
Second, pierroth, my family came here legally, and so did many other families. As a matter of fact the majority of them probably came here legally, so pzzzzzzzzzzzt to that argument and ones like it.
Third I'm against ALL illegal immigration, be it Canadian, Mexican, Asian, etc. Get your butt in line fill out paperwork.
Guess this kinda impedes the illegal alien theory hunh?
A tourist has died from injuries suffered late Sunday in a collision with a vehicle on the Las Vegas Strip.
Metro Police said a 1998 Cadillac Seville driven by 21-year-old Erika Hart of Las Vegas was traveling north at 11:39 p.m. on Las Vegas Boulevard South at a traffic-controlled crosswalk at the intersection with East Convention Center Drive when a 69-year-old pedestrian jogged across the boulevard from east to west against a "Don't Walk" signal.