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Video shows driver speed toward pedestrian on Washington Avenue

Posted at 2:05 PM, Aug 09, 2022
and last updated 2022-08-10 22:17:06-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A hit-and-run driver was arrested on Tuesday after police say they hit a pedestrian and didn't stop for several miles.

The victim was critically injured in the collision near Washington Avenue and Main Street just after 8 a.m., police said.

Security video shared with KTNV shows someone pushing a shopping cart along the bike lane near the intersection. A black car is then seen speeding toward the pedestrian.

Video shows the car hitting the pedestrian, sending the person flying into the air.

Police say the driver — who was not publicly identified as of this report — "fled the scene" but was apprehended a few miles away.

"To see it physically happen is jaw-dropping," says Nolan Bates, an area resident whose security camera captured the video.

Bates said he felt it was just a matter of time before something like this would happen.

"I'm not surprised that it happened," Bates said. "It's sad that it did, but in this intersection, it's almost inevitable."

Bates tells KTNV he's seen an increase in unhoused people in the area over the past few months. Add to that, an increase in traffic on Washington Avenue due to construction on U.S. 95.

"Within the last two months, it has gotten progressively worse," Bates said.

Security video shows the intersection after the crash, with the victim's belongings scattered throughout the intersection and the shopping cart lying on the opposite side of the street.

As for the driver, police said patrol officers saw the car and "forcibly stopped" it in the 300 block of Sanford Street, near Washington Avenue and Decatur Boulevard. The driver was taken into custody, and investigators believe they may have been impaired.

In an unrelated incident just minutes later, a pedestrian was hit and killed by a car approximately 7 miles further east on Washington Avenue. That driver was taken into custody, as well, police said previously.

Two more pedestrians were fatally hit by vehicles in different parts of the valley on Tuesday morning. Those happened during the 4 a.m. hour on both Rainbow Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

Editor's note: A previous version of this report stated two pedestrians had been critically injured by the same driver, based on information obtained at the scene that proved to be incorrect. KTNV regrets the error.