LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Loved ones and friends across the Las Vegas Valley are banding together to help a hairstylist injured in crash caused by an alleged DUI driver.
Saturday night on May 3, Christina Simons and friends walked from the Post Malone concert at Allegiant Stadium towards In-N-Out Burger, when police said an intoxicated driver in a Raptor truck struck a metal gate; a friend tells FOX5, she yelled for everyone to duck, but the gate struck Simons in the torso and threw her.
The police report said Simons suffered “substantial” injuries with a collapsed lung. Loved ones tell FOX5, Simons has broken bones, from ribs to a shoulder blade. Her right side remains substantially immobilized, friends said.
Officers found the suspect a couple blocks south of the crash site. The report states that officers noted a “strong odor” of alcohol and slurred speech.
According to the report, suspect Christopher Raon admitted to leaving the stadium. When officers asked if Raon knew what had happened, he said “he hit a closed gate… he did not hit anything else.”
Raon was charged with Felony DUI and another felony charge for failing to stop at the scene. The suspect was given a $150,000 bail and alcohol monitoring, according to court records.
“To think that someone else was reckless and did this to her, it broke my heart,” said best friend Lacee Cope. “He almost took everything from her,” Cope said.
Simons, a long-time hair stylist and colorist, just fulfilled her dream of having her own salon.
Simons will have a long road to recovery before she can possibly work again. Cope is taking on Simons’ clients, all to help her friend recover months of lost earnings.
Salons and stylists from across the Valley have created a fundraiser to help with business, living and medical expenses.
“Let’s focus on the gratitude. She would really like that because her whole life is [about] being positive and finding beauty in dark places,” Cope said.
Raon has a preliminary hearing on June 17.
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