Las Vegas Sun

February 12, 2012

Currently: 58° | Complete forecast | Log in

Man pleads guilty in DUI-related death of bicyclist

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Thursday, July 22, 2010 | 5:04 p.m.

Sun Coverage

A Las Vegas man charged with being under the influence of drugs at the time he lost control of his SUV and ran over and killed a bicyclist last summer, will be sentenced next month in Clark County District Court.

Charley A. Matanza, 51, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of driving under the influence of controlled substances, causing death and/or substantial bodily harm, at his felony arraignment before Arraignment Court Hearing Master Melisa de la Garza.

Matanza was charged in the 2009 death of Gary John Lommason, 43, of Las Vegas. Lammason, a retired Army sergeant, had worked for 15 years on the security team at Boulder Station.

Two other charges, both for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, were dismissed.

De la Garza set sentencing for 9 a.m. Sept. 27 in district court before District Judge Jennifer Togliatti. The charge carries a possible sentence of between five and 15 years.

Matanza is awaiting sentencing in the Clark County Detention Center.

According to Metro Police, Matanza's 1990 GMC SUV was westbound on Desert Inn Road on June 29, 2009, when it ran up onto the north sidewalk, striking the rear of Lommason's bicycle. The GMC continued traveling on the sidewalk for a short distance, with the bicyclist trapped beneath it, police said.

Matanza failed a field sobriety test, police said. Neither Matanza, nor his passenger, 57-year-old Ramon Matanza, Las Vegas, were injured in the collision, police said.

In his plea agreement, Matanza admitted to being under the influence of methamphetamine, marijuana and/or alprazolam at the time he was driving.

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

Commenting requires registration.

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.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Discussed
  • E-mailed
  • Facebook