Las Vegas man arrested hours after fleeing hit-and-run crash near Strip
A Metro Police officer shines a flashlight on a bicycle after a fatal hit-and-run accident on Flamingo Road Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
By Ricardo Torres-Cortez (contact)
Published Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019 | 6:44 a.m.
Updated Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019 | 4:57 p.m.
A man was arrested in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist who was riding in a designated lane near the Las Vegas Strip on Friday afternoon, Metro Police announced early this morning.
Jorge Morales-Cardenas, 58, was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on one count each of murder, reckless driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident; all felonies, jail logs and court records show.
He was believed to be impaired, police said.
The Las Vegas resident also was being held on warrant for a separate case on accusations of driving without a driver’s license and illegal parking, jail logs show. Additionally, he was booked on a count of contempt of court for a third case.
Jorge Cardenas
The collision was reported about 2:30 p.m. on eastbound Flamingo Road at Tuscany Casino Drive.
Not long before the crash, Morales-Cardenas allegedly fled the scene of another crash on Flamingo at Las Vegas Boulevard, police said.
“As he was racing to try to get away from that,” Capt. Nick Farese said Friday, the 2002 Honda Odyssey pummeled a 55-year-old man riding a mountain bike.
The cyclist, a Las Vegas resident, died at the scene, police said.
The minivan continued east, and its driver parked at a nearby resort, police said.
Farese had said the suspect had shed some clothes in a purported attempt to conceal his identify.
It wasn’t clear how Morales-Cardenas was identified or where he was taken into custody. Police announced the arrest about 12 hours after the crash, the 10th fatality in Metro-patrolled roads 25 days into 2019.
A few hours after the crash, Farese, from the scene, described it
as a “blatant disregard for human life … this particular one (is) disgusting.”
The crash remained under investigation and further information was not provided.
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