Las Vegas tourist accused of driving into unhoused person’s tent, hiding in bush to avoid police, report says

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — A Las Vegas tourist accused of driving into an unhoused person’s tent before running from the scene told officers he hid in a nearby bush to avoid police, according to an arrest report obtained by 8 News Now.

Just before 2 a.m. on Sunday, May 5, officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the area of South Sandhill Road near East Hawaii Avenue after witnesses reported a driver hitting a pedestrian.

One witness told 911 that the driver of a blue Chevrolet Cruze with a Utah license plate was “driving under the influence and plowed a guy,” according to the arrest report.

The driver was traveling north on Sandhill approaching Hawaii Avenue when he “traveled off-road” and collided into a “makeshift tent” on the side of the road, the report stated.

An unhoused individual was sleeping inside of the tent when the collision occurred. Medical personnel took him to a local hospital with critical injuries, the report stated.

After the collision, the driver stopped inside a gas station approximately 300 feet away from the collision site, where several witnesses spoke to him and the passenger, telling them to wait for police.

Despite that advice, the driver and the passenger left the scene driving to a private residence before abandoning the vehicle and leaving on foot in an unknown direction, according to the report.

Police contacted the resident of the address listed for the vehicle in Washington, Utah. She told officers that her son, identified as Yester Yancarlos Paz-Zavala, 20, and his friend were using the vehicle for a road trip to Las Vegas to visit a friend, the report stated.

Police told Paz-Zavala’s mother that her vehicle was involved in a crash that resulted in a pedestrian being critically injured and asked her to contact her son and have him call police immediately.

While executing a search warrant on the vehicle, officers found a cell phone on the driver’s side floorboard. Police dialed the number provided by Paz-Zavala’s mother, which caused the phone to ring and revealed the phone belonged to him, the report stated.

Later, Paz-Zavala’s brother called police and said that he and Paz-Zavala were at a gas station on East Charleston Boulevard and would wait for police to arrive.

Paz-Zavala told police he arrived in Las Vegas at around 5 p.m. with his friend, where they met up with his friend’s brother. After drinking an alcoholic beer, they left.

Paz-Zavala told police that while they were driving, the vehicle’s tire went flat so they stopped at a gas station to inspect it. Paz-Zavala did not make any mention of the crash occurring.

He told police that as he exited the vehicle, witnesses approached him about the crash. Paz-Zavala said he was afraid for his safety so the two got back into the vehicle and left, but abandoned the vehicle due to the damage on the front tires, the report stated.

Paz-Zavala explained to police that he ran into a nearby yard and hid inside a bush so that police would not find him. While in the bush, Paz-Zavala saw officers conducting their investigation.

After police cleared the scene, Paz-Zavala met up with a family member at an unknown location, before his mother convinced him to turn himself in.

Paz-Zavala was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a $10,000 bail. He faces a felony charge of duty to stop at the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury, and misdemeanor charges of failure to render aid at a vehicle accident and driving without a valid driver’s license.

His next court appearance is scheduled for May 8 at 8 a.m.

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