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Las Vegas driver arrested for murder after passenger was killed pushing cyclist to her deathLas Vegas Metropolitan Police Department vehicle (licensed CC BY SA 2.0 on Flickr by Tomas Del Coro)

Las Vegas driver arrested for murder after passenger was killed pushing cyclist to her death

District Attorney unlikely to prosecute on murder charge
by Alex Bowden
Fri, Oct 30, 2020 11:44
5

A Las Vegas motorist has been arrested for murder following the deaths of both a cyclist and also the passenger in his minivan after what police have called a “senseless act”. 20-year-old Giovanni Barajas was killed after he fell out of the window of the moving vehicle while pushing 55-year-old Michelle Weissman to her death.

According to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Police Department, witnesses said that Rodrigo Cruz appeared to have been racing two other vehicles on Hollywood Boulevard at around 7.20am on Sunday, October 25.

Barajas, who was in the front passenger seat, then leaned out of the moving vehicle to “take a swing” at Weissman.

The cyclist died at the scene, as did Barajas, who fell out of the van with the momentum of his strike and slid for around 150 feet into a traffic light.

“Senseless is an understatement,” said Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. “There’s no reason behind, that I can tell you, as to why it occurred – other than complete stupidity.”

Police said one of the three speeding vehicles returned to the scene where a trio of young women began crying and yelling for Barajas. They told officers they had been out drinking with him and Cruz.

Cruz had fled the scene but the Las Vegas Sun reports that he has since been arrested for one count of murder and two counts of failure to stop at the scene of a crash.

It appears the Clark County District Attorney’s Office is not likely to prosecute him on the murder charge.

Cruz was on parole for an armed robbery.

“He never went back to check on [Barajas] because he was scared since he was on parole and didn’t think Gio was hurt,” states the arrest report. “Gio was always doing stupid stuff, but [Cruz] stated he wasn’t intentionally driving in a manner to allow Gio to make contact with any pedestrians or the bicyclist.”

las vegas
Giovanni Barajas
Michelle Weissman
Rodrigo Cruz
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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5 comments

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Langster | 4 years ago
5 likes

If he was on parole and he was racing, he was already violating parole, so I call bullshit. And I think the bloke who died absolutely deserved it.

 

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0-0 | 4 years ago
5 likes

I'm sorry to hear the cyclist died.
I'm glad to hear the other one died. Hopefully in skin shredding pain.

Avatar
Projectcyclingf... replied to 0-0 | 4 years ago
1 like

I concur 100%, and I guess many would too...tho, if only the vulnerable brave cyclist victim had survived to see justice had been done against that SADISTIC ANTI-CYLIST COWARDICE MONSTER, having payed the ultimate price that ALL should.

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RoubaixCube | 4 years ago
6 likes

I am a loss for words on this one... Not sure where i should begin.

But surely there should be some level of responsiblity for your passenger? Like if he's hanging out your window then you'd pull him back in and tell him not to be so stupid. Even more so if youre friends or family. 

I dont believe the driver saying that he didnt know his passenger was going to do something stupid. Unless the deceased had abs of steel, going from a sitting position to leaning out the window can take some considerable effort and time. Not just happen at a snap of a finger. There had to be some communication between them with the passenger. Taunting/gloating saying something like "Look what im gonna do to this guy..."

Driver states: "he wasn’t intentionally driving in a manner to allow Gio to make contact with any pedestrians or the bicyclist.”

Thats where I doubt his statement.  Either he knew his passenger was being stupid and had enough time to react and deter him or he was already close enough to the cyclist for the passenger to take a swing before pulling the car away and the passenger losing his balance and fell to his death with the sudden movement.

I think he was every little bit as complicit with the act as his passenger, while he wasnt the one that pushed the cyclist. He should no less be an accessory to murder.

He fled the scene stating that he was scared because he was on parole. Though he could have fled because he was under the influence of something or had some illegal substances on his person or in his car at the time so it would make a lot more sense for him to run until he was found and arrested by the police.... This is pure speculation of course. But if you didnt have anything to hide. why would you flee? Judges probably would of been easier on you if you stopped at the scene and tried to help the victims. Then you could of said to the judge that you were trying to turn your life around and be a better person.

I mean youre going to get charged regardless when you get caught so rather do the honorable thing and stay at the scene hoping the judge will be a little more lenient then the police having to hunt you down because running from the scene does nothing to help your case.

Youre going to get punished either way so take your punishment like a man.

 

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grOg replied to RoubaixCube | 4 years ago
0 likes

The driver Cruz has two prior felony convictions, one from 2016, where he and an accomplice beat and robbed two women in Las Vegas and when chased by police, rammed the stolen vehicle they were driving into the police car.

Suffice to say, Cruz was definitely complicit in the attack on the cyclist and while they won't prosecute for murder because of the difficulty of proving intent, he will definitely go for various offences, including vehicular manslaughter for both the cyclist and his partner in crime that did the actual assault.

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