Woman accused of causing fatal crash formally charged with DUI
A woman accused of causing a crash that killed a Las Vegas father and critically injured his son was formally charged in court Tuesday with DUI and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.
Lisa Geurino, 38, of Las Vegas, appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court where prosecutors detailed the charges against her in the crash last week that killed Stephen Palmatier Jr., 37, of Las Vegas. Las Vegas police said Palmatier’s 3-year-old son was hospitalized in critical condition from the 4 a.m. crash near Centennial Parkway and North Shaumber Road.
Police said Geurino was speeding when she drove her 2019 Jeep through a stop sign at the intersection. The Jeep slammed into a compact sport utility vehicle driven by Palmatier’s wife, Kristen. Police said Geurino then fled the scene on foot to her nearby apartment.
Police said in Geurino’s arrest report that when they tracked her down at her apartment, she denied being involved in the crash and denied leaving her apartment. Police, however, talked to her husband, and he told police she had texted him at 2 a.m. saying she was at a Jackpot Joanie’s casino.
Police said they went to the casino and interviewed a bartender who said he’d served Geurino five shots of Patron Silver tequila. A receipt recovered from the bar indicated she’d been served six shots, police said in the report.
“Throughout my interaction with Lisa, I noticed her unsteady gait,” a detective wrote in her arrest report. “She also chose to be deceptive in her answers or was very confused about the previous night’s events.”
Geurino has posted a $100,000 bail and was expected to be released from the Clark County Detention Center later Tuesday. Her defense attorney, Edward Miley, said she is expected to enter an inpatient rehabilitation facility immediately.
“I know she feels terrible about everything that has happened,” Miley said.
Miley said he has just started to review the evidence in the case.
Court records show prosecutors have declined to file additional felony charges of reckless driving against Geurino although police said in her arrest report that she was driving more than 20 miles over the speed limit at the time of the collision.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
