LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On Monday morning, a crash between an SUV and a semi-truck east of the intersection of Washington Avenue and Decatur Boulevard resulted in the death of the SUV driver and the semi-truck driver's arrest of DUI-related charges, according to Las Vegas Metro Police (LVMPD).
It marked the 115th traffic fatality in Metro's jurisdiction this year, and now, from an online fundraiser, we're learning the man who was killed just lost his wife a few weeks earlier, leaving their teenage son without parents — a tragic reminder that anyone who dies on our valley roadways is much more than a statistic.
VIDEO: Guy Tannenbaum reports the latest on crash between an SUV and semi-truck that claimed the life of a father
According to a GoFundMe created by friends, Peter Sampson was 34 years old, a mental healthcare worker and a father, who was killed in the deadly crash, which happened just after 10:30 a.m. Monday morning.
The fundraiser was organized by Sampson's coworker, Nicholas Krim, who remembered him as "the kind of person who showed up every day to help people through tough times, he even took on extra hours at work so his son could have the chance at a better future."
Krim says on the fundraiser page that Sampson's wife died just a few weeks ago, and now their son, who just graduated high school, is getting ready for college without both of his parents.
It's just one of countless examples of tragedy on valley roadways, something Metro Police Traffic Bureau Lt. Cody Fulwiler talked about last month in a video posted online.
"I tell people when we're dealing with traffic, sometimes we don't worry about the speeding or these things as much until it impacts you," Fulwiler said. "These numbers that we talk about aren't numbers, they are people, and as we move into those holiday months, those are folks that aren't there on the holidays, that instead it's just a picture on the wall."
As Channel 13 reported almost two weeks ago, officers have been cracking down on the three leading causes of fatal crashes around town — speed, impairment and failure to yield — to try and prevent what happened to Peter Sampson from devastating another Las Vegas family.
Friends say Sampson's dream was to see his son succeed, and "every dollar raised will go directly to him to help cover college tuition and expenses."
Channel 13 reached out to Krim, the fundraiser's organizer, to see if we could learn more about who Peter Sampson was and share more of his family's story, but we haven't heard back.
We also don't know much more about the semi-truck driver who was arrested at the scene on Monday — we'll continue to follow this story until we learn more.