Body shop spotted blood on Summerlin hit-and-run suspect’s car, police say
A woman accused in a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian in Summerlin told investigators that she had struck construction equipment, but her damaged car suggested otherwise, according to her arrest report.
Rachel Maria Terranova is facing a felony charge of fleeing the scene of the fatal collision the night of April 27.
Darrel Redhawk Pingleton, 35, who was hit on the Summerlin Parkway off-ramp of the 215 Beltway, was found dead hours later, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.
Troopers allege that Terranova had filed an insurance claim after the crash and that her Honda Civic was taken to a Pahrump mechanic shop, the report said. The body shop owner contacted police to report spotting blood on the vehicle.
Terranova, 27, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on May 30, the report from state troopers said.
When investigators spoke to Terranova, according to the report, she said that she didn’t report the crash because no one else had been involved.
Troopers said that a search of Terranova’s phone records placed her in the area of the crash, information they used to acquire surveillance footage along her path home, the report said.
Immediately after the crash, troopers allege, Terranova took to Google to search “news today.”
The next morning, she clicked on an article about the fatal hit-and-run that gave a possible vehicle description, the report said. In subsequent days, she continued to look for information “related to Summerlin Parkway crashes.”
A warrant for Terranova’s arrest was requested in Las Vegas Justice Court the day before her arrest.
Terranova was released from jail on June 3 on medium electronic monitoring and ordered to stay out of trouble, court records show.
A preliminary hearing was slated for Aug. 5.
In a press release identifying Terranova, the highway patrol warned motorists that leaving the scene of a crash can result in a felony arrest.
Terranova’s attorneys declined to comment on the case when contacted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal Thursday.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.