Henderson fatal hit-and-run suspect said he fell asleep while driving …

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The man accused of killing a pedestrian and driving away^[1] after crashing into a bus stop told Henderson police he fell asleep at the wheel, according to authorities.

Devon Cordova faces charges of reckless driving resulting in death and failure to stop at the scene of an accident, plus several traffic infractions.

The identity of the deceased pedestrian has not yet been released by the Clark County Coroners Office. However, the Henderson Police Department report identified the deceased as Angel Rodriguez-Perez.

Police responded to the scene near East Sunset Road and Annie Oakley Drive at around 5:29 a.m. A witness who had just walked out of a Terrible gas station told authorities another witness came to him asking to call 911 after seeing an accident.

The witness went to the bus stop near the intersection and saw an older man on the ground, identified later as Perez, apparently dead. He said the bus stop had been hit by a pickup truck and that the vehicle was no longer there when he came over to check on Perez.

An officer checked the scene and found Perez had suffered significant trauma to his lower extremities and his head, the report reads.

The metal bus stop had taken heavy damage and a fire hydrant “had been sheered off and displaced eastbound on Sunset Road,” and there was damage to the landscaping.

Police learned from witnesses a description of the pickup truck and another officer radioed that they had found the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of the Black Bear Diner. No one was in the vehicle when it was found, however.

Police obtained video footage of the crash from nearby businesses. It showed the pickup leave the roadway, travel onto the sidewalk, hit the bus stop, then a fire hydrant, then a street sign and re-enter the road before continuing to travel east on Sunset Road.

Perez was declared deceased at the scene at 8 a.m.

A records check on the pickup truck showed Cordova as the registered owner living about three miles away from where Perez died.

A witness at the Black Bear Diner told authorities he saw the damaged pickup truck pull into the parking lot, saw a man later identified as Cordova exit the vehicle to assess the damage, then make a phone call and walk away.

Video footage from the diner showed the same series of events. The pickup truck had bushes on its front end that matched the kind at the scene of the crash, plus pieces of the bus stop lodged into the windshield.

At Cordova’s address, investigators met his father who said his son told him he had been to a concert at Allegiant Stadium.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers played that night.

Police learned Cordova lived across the street and knocked on the door. Cordova opened the door and said he had been driving at that location at that time when he fell asleep.

He said he drove to the parking lot of the Black Bear Diner and walked away, the report reads.

Cordova is currently out on $29,000 bond. His next hearing is April 27.

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References

1. ^{^} killing a pedestrian and driving away (www.fox5vegas.com)