Car Gets Wedged on Las Vegas Strip Pedestrian Bridge, Driver Faces DUI

Posted on: April 17, 2021, 02:48h. 

Last updated on: April 17, 2021, 04:52h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A suspected intoxicated driver on the Las Vegas Strip somehow maneuvered a Chevy sedan onto a narrow pedestrian bridge near the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas Friday. The unnamed driver was arrested for DUI.

The bridge is a tight walkway stretching between the Encore’s parking garage and the casino. Cars are forbidden.

The photo of the car went viral Friday night. It also prompted many comments on a Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) social media site.

He did this while drunk?,” a poster named Tyus said on the site. “Wow, that’s honestly impressive.”

Another poster, JSJ, asked, “How the hell do you get a car up there?” After seeing the photo, Joe responded, “Gotta be at least 5 bad decisions to end up like that.”

And Andrew commented, “Figures the car is a Chevrolet since their marketing slogan is finding new roads although I don’t believe Chevy meant it literally like this.”

The regional Las Vegas DUI Strike Team made the arrest. The team includes troopers with the NHP and officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and other local departments.

The team says its approach to enforcement has become more proactive. Multiple officers go out at the same time and search for intoxicated drivers.

Under the old way, police set up checkpoints in one place. Data on the team’s efforts are promising.

The DUI team, created in 2018, made at least 2,741 impaired driving arrests as of February, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Overall, the LVMPD arrested 4,564 people on impaired driving charges in 2019. There were 4,104 arrests in the prior year.

Also, the number of fatalities linked to intoxicated divers dropped from 54 to 26 during the two years, the Review-Journal said.

Drunk Driving Deaths

But drunk driving injuries and fatalities continue along the Strip. Last November, a 43-year-old woman died from chest injuries after the SUV she was in crashed into a wall on the fifth floor at the Paris Hotel & Casino parking garage. The deceased woman was identified as Veronica Acosta.

She was a passenger. The driver was charged with DUI.

Also, in September, Las Vegas real estate broker Scott Gragson was sentenced to between eight and 20 years in prison for a fatal crash at The Ridges in Summerlin. A mother of three was killed and three others were injured, the Review-Journal reported. Gragson pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.

Eleven years ago, a study published in the Journal of Health Economics, stated that “There is a strong link between the presence of a casino in a county and the number of alcohol-related fatal traffic accidents.”