Pahrump woman recovering from cracked vertebrae following hit and run

A Pahrump woman remains hospitalized at UMC Trauma in Las Vegas following a high speed hit-and-run collision on Friday.

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Lewis said crews were dispatched to the intersection of Highway 160 and Bell Vista Road just before 6:30 p.m.

The unidentified 75-year-old woman was entrapped inside the vehicle as a result of the collision, Lewis said.

“Upon arrival, crews found a significant impact collision, where it appeared that a sedan was struck in the rear by a vehicle that somehow fled the scene,” he said. “There was significant damage to the vehicle that remained on location to the point where the seat broke upon impact. We were able to remove her from the vehicle utilizing the other door and that patient was ultimately transported to Las Vegas.”

“Coward,” was the word used by the woman’s son to describe the driver who fled the scene.

John McLaughlin also appealed to the community to contact law enforcement if they have any information regarding the whereabouts of the driver.

He also said he was able to get a limited description of the vehicle.

“The coward drove off, but we know that the vehicle was a three-quarter-ton GMC Duramax diesel,” he said. “I spoke with the tow truck driver and he found the emblem around my mother’s car. They know that the vehicle is blue.”

McLaughlin also directed some pointed words to the hit-and-run driver.

“My advice to the driver is grow a pair of genitals, stand up and come forward and accept your responsibilities,” he said. “If you leave the scene of an accident that you caused, you are a coward whether you’re drunk or high or whatever. They didn’t want to take responsibility for their actions.”

McLaughlin also said doctors told him that his mother is expected to recover from her injuries.

“Right now she’s doing all right,” he said. “She has a neck brace and she sustained a crack to her C-1 vertebrae, which is the one that holds the skull.”

Anyone with information on the identity of the driver is urged to call the Nye County Sheriff’s Office at 775 751-7000.