Bail lowered for man charged with DUI in UNLV student’s death

By Jean Reid Norman

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 | 12:11 p.m.

The family and friends of Vladimir Lagerev are working to raise money to post his bail after District Judge James Bixler reduced it from $250,000 to $100,000 Tuesday.

Lagerev, 45, is charged with driving under the influence resulting in death after the April 15 head-on collision that killed UNLV freshman Lindsay Bennett, 18. He remained in the Clark County Detention Center this morning, and his attorney Stephen Stein said the soonest he could be released is probably Friday.

As conditions of the bail, Bixler ordered that Lagerev wear an ankle bracelet that will monitor his whereabouts and also whether he has consumed alcohol. He will also be required to surrender his passport, driver's license and marriage license and to be under intensive supervision.

Lagerev was supported during the hearing by numerous friends, who had written letters to Bixler in support of the former dancer who now works as a stagehand at the Wynn.

In the letters, the friends tell Bixler that Lagerev is a responsible father, husband and friend for whom a DUI was out of character.

"Without any doubt we can say that Vladimir is a serious-minded person," wrote friends Nadiya Frolova and Vitaliy Frolov. "He always has been in control of his actions. We have partied together many times, and we have never seen him drunk or out of control," the letter read.

Another letter by Nathan Tanner, a past employer, that is signed by dozens of others says, "Vlad is not an individual who would ever on God's earth harm anyone or anything."

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson had opposed any reduction in bail, noting that Lagerev's blood alcohol level after the crash was 0.20, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, and that he still has family in Russia.

However, Stein noted in his motion that Lagerev and his wife, Elena, are citizens of the United States and that when Lagerev was mistakenly released from the Clark County jail, he returned of his own accord.

He said he was pleased with the bail reduction, which he said is more within reach of the family's means than the $250,000 was.

"I have always said that pretrial bail in an amount that high is a punishment, not what it should be, in my opinion, under the law," Stein said.