Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Driver in crash that killed mother, son: ‘In a hurry to get home’

Updated Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 | 11:35 a.m.

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Nathan Hardy

The driver of a pickup truck allegedly involved in a fatal crash Friday night that left a woman and her teenage son dead told police he didn’t see a stoplight and was in a hurry to get home, according to an arrest report released today.

Nathan Hardy, 20, was booked on two counts of felony reckless driving resulting in death in connection with the 8:42 p.m. Friday crash that happened at the intersection of Lamb and Las Vegas boulevards.

When interviewed at University Medical Center after the crash, Hardy told the investigating officer he was returning home from a trip to St. George, Utah, and was “just in a hurry to get home.” He couldn’t recall specifics about the crash, the report indicates, and said he didn’t see the traffic light.

He also told police he hadn’t consumed any alcohol or taken any drugs, prescription or otherwise. He said he wasn’t fatigued and that shortly before the crash he had eaten a meal at Jack in the Box.

Police said evidence and witness statements indicate that a 2006 Toyota Corolla driven by 45-year-old Maria DelCarmen Lewis, of Las Vegas, was southbound on Las Vegas Boulevard and entered the intersection on a green light. A 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup truck driven by Hardy was southbound on Lamb when it entered the intersection on a red light, striking the passenger's side where Lewis’ 17-year-old son, Daniel Santos, was sitting.

Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene; Santos died a short time later at University Medical Center. The Clark County Coroner’s office said today that Lewis died of a broken neck as a result of the collision.

Santos was taken to UMC, where he died of multiple traumatic injuries he suffered in the crash, the coroner’s office said. The coroner's office officially ruled both deaths as accidental.

Several witnesses told police the Dodge was weaving in and out of traffic and ran several red lights as it traveled southbound from Craig Road as it approached Lamb.

One witness, a Clark County firefighter who was responding to another accident in the area, told police he saw the Dodge traveling 50 to 60 mph and almost strike several pedestrians in the area of Craig and Lamb.

Other witnesses described the Dodge’s speed as between 60 mph to 80 mph, weaving in and out of traffic, and running red lights at Craig and Lamb, Alexander and Lamb, and the light at Lamb and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Hardy was treated at UMC for minor injuries and booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held without bail. He is scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday morning.

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