LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Henderson police report revealed that the driver in a deadly weekend crash admitted to drinking “a pretty good amount” and taking cough syrup before the incident.
Darryl Smith, 36, was arrested on three counts of DUI resulting in death and one count of reckless driving following the January 7 crash near Lake Mead Parkway and Grand Cadence Drive. He had an appearance in Henderson Township Justice Court scheduled for January 9.
According to the police report, the crash happened at approximately 5:49 p.m. Police were called to the scene and were told that the crash involved “serious bodily injury and possibly death.” Police found a distraught man who said that one of the cars involved in the crash was his and that his wife and two children were still inside.
Henderson Fire transported the driver of another vehicle involved in the crash, Darryl Smith, 36, to St. Rose Siena to be treated for injuries he sustained. A Henderson Firefighter Paramedic told investigators that Smith stumbled out of his vehicle, appeared intoxicated, and smelled of alcohol.
“The driver advised, ‘I had a pretty good amount.’ He advised he had 3 glasses of wine and cough syrup.”
Henderson Police Department arrest report, January 8
Multiple officers on the scene assisted with documenting skid marks, gouges and debris on the road. Two other officers were sent to St. Rose Siena and made contact with the suspect in a trauma room.
“I observed Darryl to have bloodshot watery eyes, and I detected a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath and person,” one officer reported. Police obtained a search warrant authorizing blood to be drawn from Smith, which was obtained after he was released from the hospital and transferred to Henderson Detention Center.
Investigators at the scene determined that four vehicles were involved in the crash: the suspect’s Ram 1500 truck, the witness’ Hyundai sedan, a BMW X5 and a Ford Ranger. Through the course of the investigation, police determined that Smith was operating in the #2 lane of westbound Lake Mead Parkway. No skidmarks were observed before the area of impact in that lane, before the intersection.
Police found a second point of impact following that line of travel. Police said both areas showed deep gouges in the asphalt and fresh asphalt broken away from the roadway. They said that the gouges continued to a “final resting location” in the intersection. The Hyundai had major damage to the front and rear of the vehicle.
Police said Smith’s truck hit the rear of the Hyundai, crushing the trunk section of the sedan. The Hyundai suffered more damage to its front due to an impact against the back of the BMW. Officers found the truck lying on its side with the passenger side tires in the air.
After Smith hit the Hyundai, police said that the Ram entered the #1 travel lane and made contact with the fourth vehicle, a Ford Ranger. Paint transfer occurred on the Ranger’s cab and hood and the vehicle was crushed due to the impact.
The driver of that vehicle told police that he was sitting at a red light in the #1 travel lane when he heard a loud “bang” in the adjacent lane and “suddenly saw the vehicle shoot out of his view” before he felt an impact in his own vehicle.
“He said he knew it was serious because of the truck landing on its side,” the report noted. The driver and passenger in the BMW also told police about being hit by the suspect’s truck. The woman driving said that she did not see anything and was only concerned about her husband, who was taken to a nearby hospital due to injuries from the crash.
On Tuesday, the Clark County coroner identified the woman and two children killed in the crash. Smith is due back in court on January 11.
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