Victim ID’d in fatal auto-pedestrian crash in central Las Vegas
The Clark County coroner’s office has identified the 59-year-old woman who died Tuesday after being hit by a suspected impaired driver in the central Las Vegas Valley.
Gloria Santana-Mendoza was crossing East Sahara Avenue at 15th Street around 6:45 a.m. Tuesday in a marked crosswalk after the pedestrian traffic light signaled vehicles to stop. At that time, a green 2002 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driving east on Sahara Avenue veered out of the left traffic lane and hit the woman, the Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday.
The Las Vegas woman was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where she was declared dead. She died from blunt force injuries, the coroner’s office said Thursday.
Police said they suspect the 58-year-old woman driving the truck attempted to drive away after hitting Santana-Mendoza, but was stopped by several witnesses about 500 feet from the scene.
An arrest report and jail records identified the woman as Darcy Autenrieth. According to the arrest report, Autenrieth said her name was Darcy Cooper when police arrived at the scene around 7:25 a.m. Tuesday. She told officers she had about four drinks, and she failed three field sobriety tests, the report stated.
Autenrieth was booked on Tuesday into the Clark County Detention Center, where she remained Thursday facing a charge of DUI resulting in death. Bail was set at $75,000 with the condition of house arrest should she post bail, court records show.
Santana-Mendoza’s death marked the 98th traffic fatality investigated by Metro this year.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
