Racing drivers in crash that killed 2 Las Vegas teens were driving more than double the speed limit: police
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The drivers involved in a five-vehicle crash that left two Las Vegas teenagers dead were racing at more than double the posted speed limit, documents 8 News Now obtained revealed.
On Friday, March 1 at around 10 p.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the area of Vegas and Pyramid drives after reports of an accident.
911 callers reported cars racing eastbound and one of the vehicles wrapped around a pole. Medical personnel pronounced the driver and passenger, David Gomez, 16, and Javon Barrios, 17, dead at the scene.
Gomez and Barrios were speeding east down Vegas Drive in a Ford alongside an “unknown dark sedan,” when a Nissan making a left turn from Pyramid Drive to Vegas Drive crossed its path, according to an arrest report.
The Ford rotated clockwise and hit a city light pole before stopping approximately two hundred feet away from the initial collision, according to the report.
Two unoccupied and parked vehicles were damaged by debris from the collision, the report stated.
A witness told police he was Gomez’s brother and was traveling in the dark sedan, which had stopped to drop him off before leaving the scene.
Dash camera footage from a witness’ vehicle showed the dark sedan drive south on Silver Lake Drive without stopping at the scene of the accident.
Surveillance footage from a nearby car wash showed the driver of the dark sedan meet up with Gomez and Barrios before the two vehicles left.
Police were able to identify the unknown sedan, which was registered to Jacob Ybarra, 26, the report stated.
On April 4, officers spoke with Ybarra, who said he met Gomez, Barrios, and Gomez’s brother at the car wash and the group was “curious” how fast Gomez’s Ford could go with its new engine and transmission.
Arrest made in 5-vehicle hit-and-run crash that left 2 Las Vegas teenagers dead
Ybarra said he let Gomez’s brother out of the vehicle after the collision so he could “check on his brother” and left to tell Gomez’s mother about the crash, the report stated. He said he drove to their home, but never tried to notify the mother because he did not speak Spanish.
When asked how fast he thought he was going, Ybarra said “between fifty and sixty miles per hour,” and he thought the speed limit of Vegas Drive was 45 miles per hour, according to the report.
The posted speed limit on Vegas Drive is 35 mph.
The power control module of the Ford showed a last reported speed of 75 mph. Based on dash camera footage, Ybarra’s vehicle was traveling at around the same rate of speed as the Ford, the report stated.
Police arrested Ybarra and booked him into Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held on $100,000 bail.
Ybarra faces two counts of reckless driving resulting in death or serious bodily harm and two counts of duty to stop at the scene of an accident. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 9.
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