Las Vegas Area Roads: DUI Cases Become Sports Stories
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
As if COVID infection rates/vaccines and national/Georgia politics weren’t enough to take up space in our brains these days, there’s also that boring topic of trying to stay alive on Las Vegas area roads where, sadly, DUI cases have also squeezed their way into the sports headlines.
On Dec. 10, a 45-year-old truck driver named Jordan Barson drove his white Isuzu box truck into a group of cyclists 60 miles south of Las Vegas, killing five of the bicyclist. Barson faces 14 felonies including DUI, accused of having high levels of meth in his system when he drove his vehicle into the bicyclists on U.S. highway 95 between Boulder City and Searchlight in Southern Nevada.
On Monday, bail was denied for Barson. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 8 a.m., according to the Clark County DA’s office.
Just hours before Barson’s bail was denied Monday morning, Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs stepped off a jet from Denver, got into a car and crashed it in a single-car crash near the airport connector and Sunset Road outside McCarran International Airport around 4:42 a.m.
Jacobs suffered some minor injuries from the crash and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The 22-year-old second-year NFL player was then “transported to the Clark County Detention Center where he was booked on a DUI charge,” according to NFL.com.
About 12 hours before the crash, Jacobs had scored two touchdowns in the Raiders’ 32-31 win over the Denver Broncos in Denver. On Monday, Jacobs’ lawyers said they will enter a not guilty plea on behalf of Jacobs if he is charged, while Raiders coach Jon Gruden said he cannot discuss the Jacobs DUI case until he “gets more facts.” Jacobs has a court appearance set for March 8.
And on that same Sunday three days ago, the family and friends of Eric Echevarria staged a vigil to remember the 52-year-old school custodian who was killed in a car crash in the southwest valley a week ago when a suspected DUI driver is accused of causing the crash that claimed Echevarria’s life.
The accused driver is 19-year-old Zaon Collins, a UNLV basketball recruit who was a star player at Bishop Gorman High School. Police say Collins was driving a Dodge Challenger 88 mph in a 35 mph zone and showed signs “consistent with being under the influence of marijuana,” according to media reports.
Collins was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI and reckless driving, resulting in death. His first court appearance was Thursday and a judge ruled he could be released on high-level monitoring.
LVSportsBiz.com held a podcast Wednesday morning with bicyclist/retired Clark County Fire Department captain/longtime pandemic Robin Brown to discuss road safety issues. View our chat here:
