NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A North Las Vegas community is in shock after a crash over the weekend killed a teenager and sent a 19-year-old to the hospital in critical condition.
The crash happened Saturday near Craig and Simmons. The suspect, Triquan Hughes, was speeding when he crashed into a car, then a pole, then a wall before hitting two people on the sidewalk, according to police.
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When police attempted to question Hughes, he said he “wanted to go to jail so he could bail out.”
Court appearance and charges
Hughes appeared in court today facing charges of reckless driving and a misdemeanor for driving without a license. Bail has been set at $250,000. If he gets released, he will be monitored at all times and cannot drive.
A fence now covers the gaping hole left behind, also acting as a place holder for tribute. Flowers of remembrance hang for those that didn’t get to say goodbye.
“It was just chaos. I mean, you couldn’t even tell what had happened. We didn’t even know he hit a car until later on,” said Allen Bertand.
Crash details
A ball of flames and smoke consumed the car that slammed into a wall near Craig and Simmons Saturday afternoon.
An arrest report from North Las Vegas police details that Hughes was weaving through traffic and blew a red light before colliding with another vehicle and hitting two pedestrians.
“The top of the light pole hanging on the bottom part of the cables. The whole transformer on the ground, live voltage everywhere. Anybody that came behind and touched anything, they would have been shocked to death,” said Jay Coleman.
Coleman and Bertand live in the area and saw the crash happen. Both are frustrated by a reckless act costing someone their life.
“That’s no regards for your kids. I mean, I have my two kids in the car that I seen this clown driving. It’s just like, no regards for a whole lot of people,” Coleman said.
“We have a daughter and I can’t, I just could not imagine it. I don’t even want to try to imagine that,” Bertand said.
The arrest report also revealed Hughes’s 10-year-old son was in the car at the time of the crash. Officers also reported Hughes smelled of alcohol and said he did not know how fast he was driving.
“I think that people just need to really slow down, take time to really contemplate where they’re on their way to before they’re going and how important is it for me to speed there,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he calls the area “the after 3 o’clock death zone.”
“I’m always trying to be off the street driving before 3 o’clock because everyone’s in a rush to nowhere. If you would actually go slow and follow the people the people you see that and all that crazy driving they did, they end up turning to go home but almost died getting there,” he said.
“I don’t think you can stop people from drinking and driving, but you can certainly punish them better and that needs to happen,” Bertand said.
Hughes is due back in court on Wednesday. Police report neither he nor his son in the passenger seat were seriously hurt in this crash. There is no update on the 19-year-old’s recovery at this time.
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