LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas woman allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian before driving away, trying to clean evidence off of the vehicle, and speeding back through the crash scene, according to an arrest report.
Joanna Meza, 19, is facing charges of reckless driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, and destroying or concealing evidence.
On Saturday, Jan. 21, police said Meza was driving a 2000 Toyota Avalon around 4:25 a.m. traveling eastbound on E Lake Mead Boulevard before allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian.
Police said that the victim, identified as 24-year-old Rakiyah Poole, was a passenger in a car that was stopped at a traffic signal near Lake Mead and Mt. Hood Street.
Poole got out of the car and tried to cross Lake Mead from the north to the south when she walked into the path of the Toyota, according to the report. Poole was walking outside of a marked crosswalk and against the traffic signal.
Meza is accused of not stopping after allegedly hitting Poole and continuing to drive down Lake Mead. Poole was later pronounced deceased at the scene.
Around the time of the crash, surveillance video captured footage of the Toyota pulling into a convenience store near Lake Mead and Hollywood boulevards. The video showed the driver and three other women get out of the car while the driver appears to change clothes and abandon clothing at the scene, the report said.
The driver, identified as Meza, was also seen in the footage using clothing to wipe off the driver’s seat, dashboard, and windshield of the car, according to the report.
About four minutes after the crash, the Toyota was seen driving “at a high rate of speed” through the crash scene again, which was already present with passersby and a truck with emergency lights activated, the report said.
“The driver showed a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of the people at the scene and their property,” the report said. “The silver sedan made no attempt to slow or use caution while driving through the active collision scene.”
Detectives later found the Toyota in a residential area near Craig Road and Allen Lane. They observed extensive damage to the car including a broken headlamp, hood damage, dents on the driver’s side door, and a hole in the windshield. “Biological material” was also found on the windshield and exterior surface of the car, according to the report.
When detectives found and spoke with Meza inside a residence, Meza told them that she remembered drinking at a friend’s house before leaving for another location, adding that she remembered colliding with something on the way, according to the report.
“Joanna told us she felt panicked and did not want to stop,” police wrote in the report. “Joanna said she [later] drove west on East Lake Mead, past the collision scene but said she was so panicked that she didn’t stop.”
A resident in the area told police they saw the Toyota parked in a handicapped space after hearing about the crash. The witness said they saw empty alcoholic beverages in the car and vomit by the side of the car, according to the report.
Meza was being held in the Clark County Detention Center as of Thursday with no set bail, according to jail records. She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 6.