Five dead in four Las Vegas area crashes over 12-hour holiday period

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two people died in separate vehicle crashes in the early hours of Christmas morning on Monday in the Las Vegas valley, bringing the total number of vehicle-related deaths in the area to five over a 12 hour stretch from Sunday afternoon into the early hours of Christmas Day.

The first crash occurred on Sunday afternoon, when the driver and a passenger in a Mazda were pronounced dead at the scene after their car ran a red light and hit three other vehicles, according to Las Vegas police.

Later that evening, a pedestrian was killed after becoming “lodged in (a) Tesla’s windshield” after the car rammed into the victim as the driver tried to change lanes, police said. The pedestrian, who was walking “outside a marked or implied crosswalk,” was pronounced dead on the scene. The Tesla driver was arrested on a DUI-related charge.

Just after midnight Christmas morning, Nevada State Police responded to a single vehicle rollover and pronounced one of the occupants dead. The other was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, according to police.

Less than half an hour later, Las Vegas police responded to a crash after a Mercedes-Benz turned left at an intersection and ran into a motorcycle’s path. The collision ejected the Mercedes-Benz occupant into the roadway, and the motorcyclist was pronounced dead on scene.

The second crash Monday morning marked the 153rd Las Vegas traffic-related collision of 2023, according to the department. The string of collisions was first reported by KSNV-TV Las Vegas.