LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A man was jailed on DUI-related charges after a fatal vehicle collision in northwest Las Vegas early Thursday morning.
50-year-old Prentiss Bates was arrested by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers after the crash that killed a 40-year-old man, who has yet to be publicly identified.
Police say Bates crashed a Jeep Grand Cherokee into a parked car on Rancho Drive, north of the intersection with Craig Road, "at a high rate of speed."
Officers were dispatched to the crash scene near Red Coach Avenue at approximately 2:18 a.m.
Based on evidence and surveillance video, police say the other driver was parked in a Chevrolet Avalanche facing southbound on Rancho, in a coned-off construction zone. Bates, in the Jeep, was traveling northbound on Rancho when he "struck the raised median and entered the southbound travel lanes of Rancho Drive, traveling against the normal traffic flow and at a high rate of speed."
The front of the Jeep collided with the front of the Chevrolet, "causing extensive damage to both vehicles," police wrote.
The driver of the Chevrolet was transported to University Medical Center's trauma center with life-threatening injuries. He succumbed to his injuries despite all life-saving measures, police said.
His death marks the 105th traffic-related fatality in LVMPD's jurisdiction so far this year.
Police said the crash remains under investigation by their Collision Investigation Section.
