A Las Vegas man arrested in connection with a Saturday crash that hospitalized five people was racing with a motorcycle when he struck another car at an east Las Vegas intersection, according to police.
Raudel Luna, 24, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department in connection with the crash at East Lake Mead Boulevard and North Walnut Road. He faces three felony counts of reckless driving and one felony child abuse or neglect charge, online Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
Police received several 911 calls about the collision just after 1:20 p.m., according to Luna’s arrest report.
Police said a Nissan Pathfinder was facing east on Lake Mead Boulevard and more than halfway through a turn on a flashing yellow arrow when a 2011 Infiniti sedan, driven by Luna, approached west on Lake Mead “at an extremely high rate of speed” and struck the Nissan.
Dash camera footage and surveillance from a nearby store showed Luna’s Infiniti and a sports motorcycle racing side-by-side when the collision occurred, according to the report. A witness told police the motorcycle left the area after the crash. Investigators determined Luna and the Nissan’s driver were both not impaired at the time of the crash.
Officers at the scene described dramatic damage to both cars.
“At first sight of the collision scene, it was as if a bomb had exploded,” the report said. “Vehicle debris was scattered throughout Lake Mead Boulevard and Walnut Road.”
Luna did not have a license at the time of the collision, police said. He also has a prior reckless driving without a driver’s license charge from 2020, the report added. That case was closed in 2021 after he completed the coroner’s visitation program — a reckless driving court education program for teens and young adults — and paid a fine, among other provisions, North Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
Police said Luna’s car had two passengers: one woman, 25, and a 4-year-old boy. Both were taken to University Medical Center’s trauma center. The woman had minor injuries to her head, neck and back, and the boy had substantial injuries, including bruises and internal injuries, the report said.
The Nissan driver, a 74-year-old man, was taken to UMC with life-threatening injuries, including head trauma and a broken back, according to the report. His passenger, a 71-year-old woman, was taken to UMC with substantial injuries, including a broken right wrist and internal injuries.
The report did not detail the extent of Luna’s injuries, but an officer wrote in a field sobriety test report that both of his eyes were swollen shut due to a wound from his nose to the back of his head.
“Mr. Luna operated his vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, putting everybody in the vicinity of Lake Mead Boulevard and Walnut Road in immediate danger,” the report said.
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
