LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police arrested a man suspected in a hit-and-run crash at his home two hours after he allegedly struck a pedestrian and fled the scene because of the observant actions of a witness.
Las Vegas Metropolitan police said Josue Ghione, 27, smelled of alcohol and had watery and glassy eyes when he was interviewed by officers at his home. The arrest report said he told officers he only drank alcohol after the crash when he arrived home. Documents state he did admit to driving a Honda and said he was “leaving his friend’s house and was headed home when he hit something.” However, he told police he wasn’t “really sure” what he hit.
But a female passenger contradicted that. She told police she “knew that they struck a person” and Ghione did not consume any alcohol after arriving home, according to the report.
Ghione is accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian on May 21 around 9:30 p.m. on E. Sahara Avenue near the Maryland Parkway intersection and fleeing the scene. The pedestrian was not in a marked crosswalk.
Court documents state a witness told police that Ghione got out of his vehicle and ran to look at the downed pedestrian and then got back into the Honda and drove away. A nearby witness recorded a video of Ghione and got the Honda’s license plate which is how police located him at his home. Police noted the Honda was parked seven homes away from the house.
Police conducted a Field Sobriety Test on Ghione and got search warrants to do two blood draws. The results were not released in the report.
Ghione faces felony charges of DUI resulting in death, reckless driving resulting in death, and duty to stop at the scene of an accident that results in death.
He currently remains in Clark County Detention Center but could be released on bail with high-level electronic monitoring and other stipulations.