A Las Vegas driver’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit when she struck and killed an 80-year-old man last week, according to her arrest report.
Jessica Cortez, 38, faces two felony counts of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving in connection with the Friday crash that killed German Acevedo Cano in the east Las Vegas Valley, according to the Metropolitan Police Department and Las Vegas Justice Court records. The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Acevedo Cano’s death an accident caused by blunt injuries.
A witness told police they saw Cortez’s pickup truck hit Acevedo Cano as he walked north across East Cedar Avenue, near North Eastern Avenue, the report said. Officers later arrived and a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue unit transported Acevedo Cano to University Medical Center, where he died from his injuries, police said.
Cortez told an officer “I hit him” while pointing at Acevedo Cano and said she had five to seven tequila shots about an hour and a half before driving her truck from her job at a North Las Vegas strip club, according to the report.
The officer noticed “a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage” coming from Cortez’s breath and person, the report said. Cortez had watery and bloodshot eyes, slow and slurred speech and an unsteady gait, the officer added in the report.
Two samples of Cortez’s blood found her blood alcohol content was 0.199 percent and 0.173 percent, police said, both two times over the 0.08 percent legal blood alcohol concentration limit in Nevada. Cortez initially agreed to partake in sobriety tests, but police said she became aggressive and ultimately refused to do them.
Nearby surveillance video showed Cortez was driving about 41.5 mph along East Cedar Avenue, where the posted speed limit is 25 mph, police said.
Cortez pleaded not guilty and posted a $25,000 bail on Tuesday, online court records show. Her bail conditions include not driving and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. Cortez’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
