LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report has revealed more information about the deadly crash that killed a pair of Nevada State Police troopers last week.
Jemarcus Williams, 46, was arrested on November 30 and is facing multiple felony charges, including two counts of DUI and two counts of reckless driving after he allegedly killed the two troopers in a hit-and-run crash.
According to the arrest report, Nevada State Police, Highway Patrol Division, received a report of a suspicious vehicle stopped on the D Street exit from northbound I-15 at approximately 3:23 a.m. on November 30. Two state troopers reported to that location and found a black Jeep Wrangler stopped along the east barrier on the northbound D Street off-ramp.
One trooper positioned his marked Nevada Highway Patrol vehicle south of the stopped vehicle and the other positioned his north of it, facing south. While the two troopers stood in the single northbound travel lane, they were hit by a white 2005 Chevrolet HHR truck.
The police report stated that the truck “briefly activated its brakes but failed to remain on the scene.” The truck then continued northbound down the off-ramp toward D Street. The two troopers sustained fatal injuries in the crash.
LVMPD Dispatch was notified and officers began canvassing the area, looking for the truck involved, eventually locating it with major damage to its right front “consistent with having been involved in a vehicle versus pedestrian collision,” according to the report.
Police conducted a records search and located a woman who was the registered owner of the vehicle. Investigators conducted a “knock and talk” at her apartment at approximately 9:20 a.m. and found her and another man who verbally identified himself as Williams.
During initial contact, police said that the suspect said “something to the effect of, ‘I did not kill em and you should be out there finding who did.’” The owner of the vehicle told officers that she knew Williams had the truck, but that she didn’t know anything about him driving it.
Williams was read his Miranda rights and then interviewed by detectives. He admitted to drinking “one shot of vodka” while at a concert at the Palms Casino that night. Police said that Williams “had a slurred speech pattern that was incoherent at times, he emitted a strong odor of alcoholic beverage from his breath, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and he had a blank stare.”
The suspect told police that he had been sitting in the passenger seat of the truck and a friend who he knew only as “Omega” had driven him home. Williams added that he passed out and woke up in the parking lot of his apartment.
A records check revealed that Williams was previously convicted for DUI in July 2008. Police obtained a search warrant in order to draw blood from the suspect and obtained a single sample that afternoon.
License plate reader data indicated that the vehicle had been at the Palms Casino earlier that day. Investigators contacted Palms Casino Resort security and were provided access to surveillance video, which they used to track Williams through the casino. The footage encompassed the casino floor and Ghostbar, located on the 55th floor of the Ivory Tower in the Palms Casino.
Video surveillance indicated that Williams had a drink on the casino floor with two other men, briefly left the property, then returned and headed to a table at Ghostbar at approximately 1 a.m. He had more drinks and police said he appeared “heavily intoxicated due to his body swaying,” adding that he used furniture to hold himself upright, spilled a drink and dropped his phone “on several occasions.” He was also “pushed away” after attempting to dance or engage in conversation with several women.
He exited the bar just after 3 a.m. and “appeared lost” as he walked around the casino floor and ended up back at the elevators to Ghostbar. Palms security followed him through the casino floor to the main valet area. Security generated an incident report, stating that an intoxicated male was being escorted out. According to the arrest report, security advised Williams that if he got into his vehicle, they would notify Las Vegas police.
Security suggested that he take a taxi or an Uber. Att approximately 3:15 a.m., Williams walked past his vehicle in the parking lot and toward the sidewalk on Flamingo Road. He then appeared to hide behind a large tree out of view of the camera.
Security walked away and the suspect returned to his vehicle at 3:21 a.m., got in, and drove east on Flamingo. A search warrant obtained by police yielded clothing matching items the suspect was allegedly seen wearing in the security video, including a grey jacket, black pants and black shoes.
Dash camera video from the state troopers confirmed that they had engaged their emergency lights before the crash. Upon searching the suspect’s truck, investigators found a metal Nevada State Police badge inside.
Williams was arrested for two counts of hit-and-run resulting in death. He has an initial appearance in Clark County Justice Court scheduled for December 5.
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