Thursday, May 19, 2022 | 4:54 p.m.
A 15-year-old Las Vegas boy who was critically injured last week after clinging to a SUV while riding his skateboard in a residential area in the east valley has died, according to Metro Police.
The teen — whom police did not identify — died Tuesday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was taken after the crash, police said in a release. The teen’s identity was not released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office, citing that the case is still pending as of Thursday afternoon.
Police responded just after 9 p.m. May 13 to the area of Forsythe Drive and Skywood Way, near Ballinger Drive and Sloan Lane, in reference to a crash involving a pedestrian, Metro said in a release.
A 2018 Jeep Wrangler was heading west on Forsythe with the teen clinging to the Jeep’s passenger side while on a skateboard, police said. The teen was ejected from the skateboard and run over by the Jeep’s rear-right tire.
The driver of the jeep, identified as Destiny Jimenez, 19, of Las Vegas, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on DUI charges, police said. She remained at CCDC as of Thursday on counts of DUI resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, driving without a driver’s license and reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, jail records show.
Jimenez told police she had consumed alcoholic beverages and had smoked a marijuana joint before the crash, according to her arrest report. The arrest report did not indicate how much alcohol she had consumed.
Detectives at the scene spoke with an occupant of the Jeep who said that she was driving the Jeep just before the crash, police said. The teen on the skateboard said he wanted to ride while clinging onto the jeep while they drove through the neighborhood.
That occupant refused, and Jimenez said she would drive the Jeep while the boy clung to the passenger side, according to the arrest report. The occupant and Jimenez switched seats, and the crash happened shortly after Jimenez drove off, police said.
After the crash, the teen was seen lying in the roadway bleeding from his head, according to the arrest report. Arriving officers found the teen still lying in the road just east of the Jeep, surrounded by family, police said.
The teen was admitted to Sunrise’s Trauma Unit for life-threatening head and chest injuries, police said.
Jimenez is scheduled to appear again in Las Vegas Justice Court on Tuesday, according to her case file. No attorney was listed yet to represent her.
