Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

18-year-old accused of DUI after rear-end crash on interstate kills 5

Updated Saturday, March 30, 2013 | 5:42 p.m.

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Jean Soriano

Sun coverage

An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after a car he was driving struck another vehicle on southbound Interstate 15 near Mesquite early Saturday morning, causing a rollover crash that killed five people, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.

The accident happened shortly before 3 a.m. on southbound I-15, about 25 miles south of Mesquite.

According to highway patrol spokesman Loy Hixson, the crash occurred when a 1999 Dodge Durango driven by 18-year-old Jean Soriano rear-ended a 2002 Chevrolet Astro van.

The Chevrolet rotated clockwise off the road, Hixson said, ejecting five of its seven passengers.

A 15-year-old boy, who was ejected, and the 40-year-old female driver, who was wearing a seat belt, were airlifted to University Medical Center in critical condition, he said.

Five others riding in the van — a 49-year-old man, a 45-year-old man, a 41-year-old man, a teenage girl and a woman of unknown age — were killed, according to highway patrol. All five were from California.

Soriano and his 23-year-old male passenger were taken by ground to UMC, where they were treated and released. Soriano was then booked into Clark County Detention Center on charges of driving under the influence, Hixson said.

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