Executive Summary
- A 19-year-old driver is accused of causing a 12-car crash in Las Vegas that resulted in two deaths and multiple injuries.
- The suspect, Jose Gutierrez, had received a speeding citation in the same vehicle just weeks before the fatal incident.
- Gutierrez also had a prior arrest record from April, where he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of resisting a public officer.
- He now faces four counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm in connection with Tuesday’s crash.
LAS VEGAS – The 19-year-old driver accused of causing a twelve-vehicle crash that killed two people and injured several others on Tuesday had been cited for speeding just weeks earlier, according to court records. He also has a prior arrest record for threatening a police officer.
Las Vegas Metro Police identified Jose Gutierrez, 19, as the driver who was allegedly speeding on Cheyenne Avenue near Jones Boulevard before crashing into multiple vehicles stopped at a red light. The collision resulted in the deaths of Gutierrez’s passenger, Adilene Diran Rincon, 20, and another driver, Edward Garcia, 38. Gutierrez was hospitalized with serious injuries following the crash.
Records obtained by investigators show that on October 3, Gutierrez was cited by a Metro police officer for driving 52 mph in a 35-mph zone in the same vehicle involved in Tuesday’s fatal crash. The ticket was later reduced, and he was not scheduled to appear in court for it until January.
Furthermore, Gutierrez was arrested on April 12 in a separate, non-traffic-related incident. According to an arrest report, he threatened a responding officer after being accused of hitting a woman. The report states Gutierrez told the officer, “I’ll kill you.” He later pleaded no contest in June to a reduced misdemeanor charge of resisting a public officer and was ordered to complete impulse control counseling, which records show he finished in September.
Gutierrez is now facing four counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm. “This has to stop,” LVMPD Deputy Chief Jose Hernandez stated during a news conference after the crash. “It’s yet another reminder of how 10 families whose lives will be changed forever.” It is important to note that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.