LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A police report obtained by FOX5 reveals that a driver who hit and killed a pedestrian was released twice from custody before her arrest.
Las Vegas police said a crash happened near Sahara and Valley View Thursday morning. Las Vegas police say Mariana Armenta-Jauriqui, 24, drove a GMC pickup truck that killed the pedestrian.
Police say the pedestrian was transported to UMC where he later died.
The person who reported the crash told police it was a “violent interaction” between the victim and truck.
The witness said the pedestrian was holding a soda bottle on the roadway. The victim made multiple attempts to avoid the truck, but the driver kept changing lanes to intentionally hit the pedestrian.
The witness told police they followed the vehicle to get the license plate and would get flipped off. She “was certain what she witnessed was not an accident.”
Police say there is no information yet as to why she intentionally hit the person.
Police would stop a vehicle seen driving through a nearby construction zone. A vehicle stop was conducted and the driver was identified as Armenta-Jauriqui.
Officers let her go with a warning. According to the arrest report, officers were “unaware of the hit-and-run event until after they released the vehicle.”
Police said the vehicle was registered to someone else. However, the suspect said she borrowed the car with the agreement that she would return it the following day.
Officers called the suspect for an interview, but it didn’t happen as she requested an attorney.
“At the time, detectives from the fatal detail did not know who the driver of the vehicle was at the time of the incident, so they released Armenta-Jauriqui,” the arrest report says.
Once officers got surveillance video from a nearby business, police say it was clear she was the suspected driver.
Detectives met with her again and took her into custody. Officers would also find blood on the car matching with the incident.
According to court records, she faces one count of open murder with a deadly weapon. She is due for a 72-hour hearing on Feb. 25.
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