LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man involved in a crash caused by an off-duty metro officer, identified as 79-year-old David Earl Kingsley, has passed away.
The crash happened last Wednesday, April 12 on U.S. 95 near Summerlin Parkway and Rainbow Curve area.
His grandson told 8newsnow.com it was pretty touch and go this past weekend as Kingsley was fighting for his life. The fact that the crash was caused by an off-duty officer makes their pain so much worse.
“He would always call me his son,” Dominic Garcia said.
Garcia remembers his grandfather as more like a dad to him.
“I told him I would be with him, beginning to the end,” Garcia said.
Garcia was there till the end, as his family made the gut-wrenching decision to take Kingsley off breathing machines after being involved in a horrific crash.
“He got damaged in his spine, his eyes. He was paralyzed, he broke his neck,” Garcia said.
Garcia said Kingsley was on his way to the dog park with his dog Nakita, just before 5 a.m.
Around the same time, a car driven by off-duty Metro Officer Benjamin Coreas was overturned on the highway after hitting another car.
That is when Kingsley ran into him.
“It gave me nothing but anger,” Garcia said about his thoughts when he found out it was an off-duty Metro Officer.
Nevada State Police said the 24-year-old officer showed signs of impairment and was arrested.
“Your job is to arrest people who do that so what makes you think it’s OK to do that? It is not right,” Garcia said.
Officer Coreas has been with Metro since 2020. He will be back in court in June for his arraignment.
He was facing charges of reckless driving, and failure to decrease speed, both considered misdemeanors.
Now that the crash has turned deadly, the city of Las Vegas tells 8newsnow.com those charges can change.
As for the victim’s dog, Garcia said Animal Control took Nakita to the Animal Foundation.
Nakita had just given birth to seven puppies, who are also currently at the foundation.
The family is trying to get all the dogs back because they say their grandfather adored Nakita.
“He was an independent man, but Nakita was always with him. Wherever he went, Nakita went with him,” Garcia said.
However, the city of Las Vegas said the dogs are held because the family isn’t licensed to breed, and the dogs aren’t fixed yet.
The puppies are too young to be separated from their mom.
The city said, after the puppies are old enough to be separated from Nakita, she can then be spayed and returned to the next of kin.
Once the puppies are old enough to be adopted, the family would have to go through the process with the Animal Foundation.
