By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Authorities have identified the truck driver who killed five bicyclists in Southern Nevada last Thursday as Jordan Alexander Barson, 45, of Kingman, Arizona, and he is facing five counts of DUI with death, one count of DUI with substantial bodily harm and six counts of reckless driving.
Barson was taken into custody at 7 a.m. today by the Mojave County Sheriffs Department in Kingman, Arizona. The Sheriffs deputies were executing an arrest warrant issued by the Clark County District Attorney’s office based on the investigation being conducted by the Nevada Highway Patrol. Here is the official Clark County DA statement:
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with Clark County DA Steve Wolfson about the DUI charge today. Wolfson, who attended Saturday’s vigil for the Las Vegas Five, said he rides an E-bike and was touched by the words of family members who shared stories about the bicyclists killed last Thursday. Wolfson explained Barson fell asleep at the wheel and had high levels of meth:
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For the past week, metro Las Vegas and bicyclists worldwide have mourned for the loss of five cyclists killed Dec. 10 when Barson drove a white Isuzu box truck into a group of about 20 bicyclists pedaling the 130-mile “Nipton Loop” ride along U.S. highway 95 between Boulder City and Searchlight in Clark County at 9:39 a.m.
The five bicyclists who died were Aksoy Ahmet, Mike Murray, Gerrard Nieva, Erin Ray and Tom Trauger. On Saturday, an emotional vigil was staged at Las Vegas Cyclery to remember the five.
LVSportsBiz.com also talked with Las Vegas bicycle leader Pat Treichel Wednesday for reaction and comments:
Cyclist Terri Buryanov has asked for videos of the Las Vegas 5: “If anyone has any videos with Erin, Mike, Tom, Gerrard or Aksoy in them, would you please be willing to email them to me? This is probably the hardest video I will ever make, but I know I have to do something to raise awareness about the lack of safety on our roads and I also want to make sure I honor our friends well. Anything you have would be greatly appreciated because I only have a little bit of Erin. You can send it to imterribee@gmail.com
It should be noted that at the scene of the crash last Thursday, the Nevada Highway Patrol PIO mentioned that Barson did not appear to be impaired.