‘I hit him’: Driver had BAC more than twice legal limit in fatal crash, police say

‘I hit him’: Driver had BAC more than twice legal limit in fatal crash, police say Las Vegas — Jessica Cortez, 38, faces two felony counts of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving after a Friday crash that killed 80‑year‑old German Acevedo Cano in the east Las Vegas Valley, according to the Metropolitan Police Department and Las Vegas Justice Court records. The Clark County coroner ruled Cano’s death an accident caused by blunt force injuries. A witness told officers they saw Cortez’s pickup truck strike Cano as he walked north across East Cedar Avenue near North Eastern Avenue. Police arrived and Las Vegas Fire & Rescue transported Cano to University Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. Cortez told an officer, “I hit him,” while pointing at Cano and said she had consumed five to seven tequila shots about an hour and a half before driving from her job at a North Las Vegas club. The officer reported a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Cortez’s person and noted watery, bloodshot eyes, slow and slurred speech, and an unsteady gait. Two blood samples taken from Cortez showed alcohol concentrations of 0.199 percent and 0.173 percent, both more than twice Nevada’s legal limit of 0.08 percent. Cortez initially agreed to perform sobriety tests but became combative and refused to complete them. Surveillance video from the area showed Cortez traveling approximately 41.5 mph on East Cedar Avenue, where the posted speed limit is 25 mph. Cortez pleaded not guilty and posted a $25,000 bail on Tuesday, according to online court records. Her bail conditions prohibit driving and require abstinence from drugs and alcohol. A preliminary hearing is set for October 6.