Wrong-way driver was going ‘over 100 mph,’ says son of man killed in crash
The injured son of a man killed in a collision with a wrong-way driver Thursday said he saw the errant motorist “driving over 100 mph” toward him and his father.
Julian Khoury, 23, in an interview from his hospital bed at University Medical Center, said that he and his father, Elie Khoury, 49, had just merged onto the 215 Beltway from Jones Boulevard “and the next thing I know we have a vehicle driving in front of us.”
“Everyone is hitting the brakes and swerving out of the way,” Julian Khoury said. “We were in the far left lane and he was heading toward us, an SUV driving over 100 mph.”
His father tried to veer away from the oncoming vehicle, but it crashed head-on into the driver’s side of their gray 2021 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck, killing Elie Khoury and causing critical injuries to Julian Khoury.
Trooper Shawn Haggstrom, a spokesperson for the Nevada Highway Patrol, said the first call about a wrong-way driver Thursday came in at 4:08 p.m. and the crash occurred at 4:14 p.m.
Police said that a black 2024 GMC Yukon was eastbound in the far left lane of the westbound lanes of the Beltway while the Khourys were headed west. The Yukon slammed into the Ram head-on, and the pickup spun out and struck a black 2020 Toyota Camry.
The Ram and Camry traveled into the right paved shoulder, police said, where both vehicles caught on fire.
Julian Khoury said he and his father had been on their way to check up on the family business, Larry’s Great Western Meats, a butcher shop on South Valley View Boulevard.
Now the young man is recovering from second-degree burns over 20 percent of his body, a broken back and a broken eye socket and nose after spending five days in a Level 1 trauma unit.
He will have to stay in the hospital for about another two weeks, he said.
Once he’s out, he’ll have to proceed with running his father’s business. “He was the captain of the ship, so I have to fill his shoes,” he said.
Haggstrom said the man who was driving the wrong way was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Clark County coroner’s office on Monday identified the driver of the wrong-way vehicle as Daniel Ozeri. He was 39.
Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow @JeffBurbank2 on X.
