NLV crash that killed girl, 12, occurred during a car chase, police allege
A man accused in a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a 12-year-old girl last spring was being chased by a reckless driver who claimed the suspect had earlier hit his car, North Las Vegas police allege in an arrest report released Tuesday.
North Las Vegas might have also missed an opportunity to stop the vehicles moments before the crash.
Bryan Barajas, 26, was already jailed at the Clark County Detention Center, where he was rebooked in late December on suspicion of a litany of counts in connection to the June 20 crash.
They include reckless driving resulting in death, hit and run resulting in death, and stolen vehicle-related counts, records show.
Barajas also had a suspended license, police said.
Police identified Barajas through an anonymous tip, and fingerprints and a cellphone registered under his name found in the SUV from which he allegedly fled, according to the report.
Surveillance footage from a convenience store recorded the afternoon collision that killed 12-year-old Yelina Tarango, police said.
Police allege Barajas ran a four-way stop sign “at a high rate of speed” near Belmont Street and East Carey Avenue, causing a three-vehicle crash.
The stolen Cadillac Escalade Barajas was allegedly driving then careened into a sidewalk, hitting Yelina.
The Las Vegas girl, who “attempted to run but had no escape,” died at the scene, according to the report.
Police at the scene spoke with Alfredo Cabrera Jr., who had been driving a Chevrolet Camaro that narrowly missed the pileup.
Police allege that Cabrera Jr., who was also speeding, ran the same stop sign right after Barajas.
Cabrera Jr. told police that he had been chasing Barajas, who had hit his car but hadn’t stopped at the scene of that alleged crash, according to the report. He didn’t call 911 until after the crash, police added.
About two minutes before the crash, officers — at an unrelated call at a nearby neighborhood about half a mile away — saw an Escalade and a Camaro speeding and “driving recklessly,” police said.
One of the officers radioed the information, but “the cars were not followed based on the current assigned call,” according to the arrest report.
Cabrera Jr. was arrested that day.
The following month, he was arraigned on a felony charge of reckless driving involving death, North Las Vegas court records show. His case is ongoing.
Asked at the scene of the crash what happened, Cabrera Jr. said that the suspect had hit his car, ran, crashed, and that now someone was dead because of it, according to the report. “Dumb (expletive).”
Barajas on Tuesday remained at the Clark County Detention Center with no bail, records show.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
