LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The suspect in a suspected DUI crash told police she was forced to drink alcohol immediately following the crash by people in attendance for a vigil.
Caren Quiroz-Alvarez was booked on DUI, child abuse and failure to decrease speed charges in connection to a crash at Lake Mead and Englestad on March 18. North Las Vegas Police said four people were hit by a car while attending a vigil and “balloon release” event at the intersection.
Police said over 150 people were in attendance when “several” victims were hit by a vehicle. In an arrest report, NLVPD described the scene as chaotic, with all those in attendance of the vigil surrounding the vehicle and the occupants, Alvarez and her two daughters, “hysterically crying” in the car.
A NLVPD officer said they immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the suspect with bloodshot/watery eyes. Another officer came to translate and advised the suspect’s speech was slurred and she kept repeating things over and over, the report said.
According to Alvarez through the translator, she traveled straight through green light while people were in the road. Video shared with FOX5 shows several people in the road when the light turns green on Englestad. You can hear the vehicles engine as it approaches the crowd, with several people yelling and running away.
Alvarez said she was pulled from the vehicle and she was beat up, with those people reportedly taking her phone, keys and purse. Police said Alvarez couldn’t identify the people who reportedly battered her.
“Alvarez explained that she did not drink any alcohol tonight prior to the incident but when she was pulled out of the car by the subjects who battered her, they also shoved several different types of alcoholic beverages into her mouth forcing her to drink the bottles,” the report said.
Alvarez was arrested shortly after. Her next court appearance is set for July 10.
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