Pedestrian identified, driver charged after fatal hit-and-run

By Molly Waldron

CREATED Oct. 18, 2012

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  • The victim has been identified and the driver charged after a fatal auto-pedestrian crash on Flamingo near Jones Wednesday night. Video by ktnv.com

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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- The victim has been identified and the driver charged after a fatal auto-pedestrian crash on Flamingo near Jones Wednesday night.

The man struck and killed while crossing a street on Wednesday night has been identified by the Clark County Coroner's Office as 50-year-old James Bergstraesser.

Police said Bergstraesser was jaywalking across Flamingo Road near Jones at about 8:20 p.m. when he was hit by a 1997 Infinity Q45.

Bergstraesser was rushed to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The driver of the Infinity, identified as Roland Biscailuz, fled the scene but later returned. Biscailuz was arrested and booked on charges of drunken driving and felony hit and run.

Police urge pedestrians and drivers alike to use caution after this latest tragedy.

"These accidents are preventable and it's something where everyone has to do their part to bring these numbers down,"  Officer Laura Meltzer with Metro Police said.

Police say many people cross between an apartment complex and a park on Flamingo Road, where there is no crosswalk for several hundred feet in each direction.

Neighbors say that distance between crosswalks is a hazard, and hope changes are made to that stretch of roadway.

"It would be better, especially with little kids," Taylor Stephen said. "Once the middle school gets out, there's a lot of little kids I see jaywalking. They just run for it." 

"We used to jaywalk all the time," Veronica Roo said. "Once we started to hear about people getting hit, we don't do it any more."

Bergstraesser's death marks the 89th traffic fatality in Metro's jurisdiction so far this year.