Las Vegas Boulevard Drunk Driver Gets Locked Up for at Least Four Years for Deadly Crash

Posted on: February 15, 2025, 09:01h. 

Last updated on: February 15, 2025, 09:18h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.
  • Driver speeding at 140 mph
  • Victim died, passenger injured
  • Judge wanted more than minimum sentence

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An intoxicated motorist speeding on a Las Vegas roadway at 140 mph seconds before his car smashed into another vehicle was sentenced this week to between four and 12 years in prison.

Smashed up car
Smashed up car, pictured above. The vehicle was demolished after a Las Vegas drunk driver collided into it. The red car’s driver died. (Image: LVMPD via KLAS)

Charlie Hernandez, 29, reportedly had his foot to the floor on his Dodge Challenger moments before the March 22, 2024 collision on Las Vegas Boulevard near the intersection with Walnut Road.

The impact caused the victim’s Hyundai Accent to spilt in half and the Challenger to roll over the road.

The 140 mph speed the Dodge was operating was recorded in the car’s internal computer three seconds before its air bag deployed, according to Las Vegas TV station KLAS. The exact speed an instant before the crash was 127 mph, according to court documents.

The driver of the Hyundai, Luciano Chavez, 38, died, and his passenger was seriously injured from the collision, authorities said.

Minimum Sentence Not Appropriate

The sentence was handed down on Thursday by Clark County District Court Judge Bita Yeager.

I don’t think that this is the type of case where the minimums are appropriate,” Yeager said as she announced her sentence. She’s a former Clark County public defender with many years of defending clients on criminal charges.

Under Nevada law, Hernandez faced a minimum of two years in prison. The maximum was 20 years.

The judge also ordered Hernandez to pay the victim’s family $9,900 in restitution.

With time Hernandez already spent in jail, he will become eligible for parole in 2029, KLAS reported.

I messed up. I wish I could take every[thing] back, but I know I can’t,” Hernandez told the judge before the sentence.

Months ago, he agreed to a deal with prosecutors where he pled guilty to DUI resulting in death.

Chavez was from Guatemala and was employed as a chef.

Chavez’ niece, Angelica Chavez, was among the victim’s relatives who spoke at Thursday’s sentencing, KLAS reported.

We always try to look to the future — and when it’s completely cut short from … the actions of someone else, truly, I feel like there should be justice,” Angelica Chavez said.

As Egregious As It Gets

The facts of this case are as egregious as it gets, and the defendant deserves to be in prison,” Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Chad Lexis was quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the sentence.

Hernandez had been at a party before the crash. After he was apprehended, he couldn’t “recall how he got into the Challenger and was confused when asked where he was driving and what road he was driving on,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers revealed, according to the Review-Journal.