LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man is dead after being hit by a vehicle in east Las Vegas earlier this month.
According to police, the crash happened at 1:56 a.m. on May 5 at S. Sandhill Road and E. Hawaii Avenue, which is near E. Charleston Boulevard.
Evidence at the scene, witness statements, and crash video indicate a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze LS was going north on Sandhill, approaching the Hawaii Avenue intersection.
Police said the Chevrolet went off the road and hit the pedestrian, who has been identified as 63-year-old Robert Patrick Tully. Investigators said Tully was unhoused and was sleeping in a makeshift tent at the time of the crash.
The driver and passenger, later identified as 20-year-old Yester Yancarlos Paz-Zavala and his friend Ariel Ponse, stopped and pulled into a gas station parking lot near the crash scene and spoke to several witnesses who advised them to wait for police. However, they got back into the vehicle and drove away from the scene.
Investigators said the vehicle was abandoned nearby and the two ran away on foot. According to an arrest report, Paz-Zavala told police he was "afraid for his safety" after several witnesses approached him after the crash. He said he ran into the yard of a nearby home and hid inside a bush so that police wouldn't spot him. As he hid, he said he watched the on-scene investigation until officers left.
After that, he ran away where a family member located him. The report states that police were in contact with Paz-Zavala's mother who convinced him to turn himself in and take responsibility for the crash.
Tully was taken to University Medical Center after the crash. He died from his injuries on May 19.
Tully's death is the 69th traffic-related fatality in LVMPD's jurisdiction in 2024.
