41°F
weather icon Mostly Cloudy

1 dead after wrong-way driver, vehicle collide in Las Vegas

Updated September 6, 2018 - 4:51 pm

A man was killed early Thursday when a suspected DUI driver traveling the wrong way on the 215 Beltway crashed into his car in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.

Just before 1:30 a.m., the man driving the wrong way in a Jeep Wrangler with his headlights turned off collided with a Dodge Magnum on the 215 Beltway near Cheyenne Avenue, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Travis Smaka said.

The driver of the Dodge died at the scene, Smaka said. The Clark County coroner’s office identified the man as 41-year-old Matthew Roy Hammond of Las Vegas.

The Jeep driver was taken to University Medical Center and was later arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, Smaka said.

“Even if they were going the speed limit, a head-on collision is going to be violent and catastrophic,” Smaka said.

Neither vehicle had passengers.

Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0365. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter. Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Blake Apgar contributed to this report.

THE LATEST