Updated: 8:25 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2005
LAS VEGAS - The driver of a stolen car who authorities say deliberately plowed into pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip, killing two and injuring a dozen others, will face charges of liquidate and attempted liquidate.
Witnesses said the driver, Stephen M. Ressa, 27, of Rialto, Calif., accelerated as he drove along the crowded casino sidewalk, Deputy Police Chief Greg McCurdy said.
One witness described it as ãhumans being mowed down like a lawnmower,ä McCurdy said. ãIt appears he did this intentionally.ä
Ressa was arrested Wednesday at the chaotic scene that stretched for yards under the marquee of the Ballyâs hotel-casino. There was no record Thursday that Ressa had retained a lawyer.
The injured were strewn along the sidewalk and treated in the street by emergency workers as stunned tourists looked on. An off-duty Las Vegas police officer, Martin Wright, rushed from a nearby restaurant to help.
ãAll I saw was bodies on the sidewalk and in the bushes,ä Wright said Thursday.
(snip)
---------------------------------------------------
We need more of this. None of that "hey man, it was an accident" crapola. If you hit a pedestrian and you are at fault, that's liquidate period. Stop the criminal coddling.
