Police: Driver charged after running over girlfriend’s ex

A Las Vegas motorist has been charged with attempted murder after police say he deliberately ran over his girlfriend’s ex with a pickup in the central Las Vegas Valley.

Eduardo Ruiz-Rodriguez, 22, was arrested at the scene of the Saturday crash at El Conlon Avenue and Valley View Boulevard. Las Vegas police said the victim was walking southbound along Valley View when he was struck around 9 p.m. He suffered moderate injuries. He told officers he did not remember being hit.

Police located the pickup, Ruiz-Rodriguez, and his girlfriend nearby. Police said in an arrest report for Ruiz-Rodriguez that they learned the woman was the victim’s ex-girlfriend. She and Ruiz-Rodriguez both told police that the victim had attempted to pull Ruiz-Rodriguez out of the truck and, when Ruiz-Rodriguez attempted to drive off, the victim was struck.

However, officers eventually located video surveillance of the crash from a nearby business. Police said the video contradicted the account of Ruiz-Rodriguez and his girlfriend.

“(It) showed a white pickup truck with its lights off traveling southbound in the northbound lanes from Sahara/Valley View towards El Conlon,” police said of the video, adding “as the video progresses, the same white pickup hits (the victim) with the front bumper launching him several feet.”

Ruiz-Rodriguez also is charged with battery. His girlfriend initially was arrested on conspiracy to commit murder, but Las Vegas Justice Court records show prosecutors dismissed the case against the woman.

A preliminary hearing for Ruiz-Rodriguez is scheduled for June 2.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.