Las Vegas man shoots, kills driver after road rage chase: police
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A high-speed road rage chase came to a deadly end after a Las Vegas man allegedly shot and killed a man for crashing into his friend’s car, according to documents 8 News Now obtained.
Police arrested Tony Archuletta, 42, on March 7 on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon, records showed.
On March 2, around 12:40 a.m., Metro police received a 911 call from a person reporting that when he arrived at work, there was a vehicle crashed into the security booth at the gate of the business in the 4400 block of East Lone Mountain Road, according to an arrest report.
Las Vegas police arrest suspect after man found shot to death in vehicle
The man reported a woman inside the vehicle, who appeared to be under the influence and in need of medical attention. Arriving Clark County Fire Department crews also found a man, later identified as Angel Corona-Rubio, dead in the driver’s seat with an apparent gunshot wound to his head.
Paramedics took the woman to a local hospital with internal injuries as well as a broken leg, they said.
There were multiple bullet holes to the rear and passenger side of the car as well as red paint on the side of the car, police said. Officers found several Winchester 9 mm Luger and 7.62×39 Tul Ammo cartridge cases in the road.
Surveillance footage in the area showed that on March 1 around 10:35 p.m., Rubio’s grey Nissan 370Z and a maroon Honda Accord pulled into the gated entrance. Rubio’s car stopped momentarily and the Honda pulled up to face the car. A dark-colored pickup truck was then seen driving past the two cars before Rubio’s car drove into the security booth, according to the arrest report.
Officers were able to also find footage of the Honda and Rubio’s car engaged in what police said appeared to be a road rage incident. Footage showed the cars following and cutting each other off at high rates of speed on Nellis Boulevard between Owens Avenue and Craig Road.
As the two cars approached the intersection of Nellis and Craig, the Honda attempted to make a left turn and Rubios’s car cut in front of them to make a right turn. The Honda then turned around to follow the Rubio toward Lamb Boulevard, police said.
After the shooting, the Honda was seen making a left turn onto Lamb Boulevard. The last place the car was seen was Lamb and Tonopah around 11:45 p.m.
Man found dead in vehicle with apparent gunshot wound in northeast Las Vegas valley
On March 5, LVMPD found a maroon Honda Accord matching the description of the car seen in the surveillance footage. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the car and as they were in the process of having it towed, the owner exited their apartment telling them that he knew why they were there and that he was actually the victim, police said.
The man told police that on March 1, he was side-swiped by a man driving a dark-colored sportscar near US 95 and Boulder Highway. He said that the car kept driving so he got behind him and flashed his lights until he pulled over, the report said.
When he approached the driver of the sportscar, he said he appeared drunk and could smell alcohol coming from him. Rubio ignored what the man was saying about him hitting his car telling him, “It’s OK, you know me,” police said.
Rubio then got back into his car and drove away, taking the Charleston exit. The man followed Rubio and began recording with his cellphone but realized the car did not have a license plate, so he continued to follow him onto Charleston, according to police.
The man pulled up next to Rubio and rolled down his window and Rubio said something in Spanish along the lines of “The police won’t do anything and if you want to settle this with guns we can get guns,” the report said.
The two cars continued to follow and cut each other off with Rubio attempting to “ram” into the Honda several times, police said.
During the chase, the man in the Honda called his friend, Archuletta, telling him that he was being followed by another car. The man denied asking Archuletta for help or telling him the location of the shooting, according to police.
The man told police that he turned onto Lone Mountain Road, not realizing that it was a dead end. He then heard gunshots and ducked down, thinking that he was being shot at, police said. He then left the scene and went home.
On March 5, officers learned that the 9mm cartridges found at the scene matched a handgun that was used in a separate road rage incident in Salt Lake City in August 2023. Police said that Archuletta’s son was arrested with the gun in Utah on August 20, 2023, and the gun was then impounded. On Feb. 21, Utah police released the gun to Archuletta.
Detectives then learned that Archuletta owned a dark red pickup truck and was able to access his phone records. Detectives accessed his location data which showed his phone at the scene of the shooting, police said.
They also obtained surveillance footage of his truck driving behind the cars during the chase, according to police
Archuletta told police that he was not at the scene and went to bed at 10 p.m. When officers asked him why his phone and car were at the scene of the shooting, he said that his two sons must have been involved in the shooting, not him, according to police.
Police said that Archuletta told detectives numerous times during their interview that his sons committed the shooting.
He admitted to owning a Taurus 9 mm handgun that was previously used in a road rage incident in Utah and that his son owned an AK-47-type firearm that was kept in his bedroom, according to the report.
When officers searched Archuletta’s home, they did not recover either firearm.
Archuletta was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on an open murder charge.
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