DUI suspect told Las Vegas police he had wine before McLaren crash
The suspected drunken driver of a rented race car involved in a crash that killed a man Sunday told police he had wine at a nightclub beforehand, according to an arrest report.
Stanley Butler, 29, from Washington, D.C., was driving a rented green McLaren 570S about 4:30 a.m. Sunday when the car left the road and crashed into a parked Toyota Camry, police said. Joshua Badell, 39, was sitting alone in the passenger seat of the Camry, which was parked in a strip mall near Tropicana Avenue and Pecos Road, police said.
Badell died of blunt force injuries, and his death was ruled an accident, the Clark County coroner’s office has said.
Butler and the McLaren’s passenger, a 29-year-old man from Temple Hill, Maryland, were both taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. The Maryland man suffered a serious head injury and brain bleed, according to Butler’s arrest report.
At the hospital, Butler told detectives that he had “a little bit of wine” to drink at a nightclub before the crash. Butler also said he did not remember the collision.
Detectives noticed a “moderate odor” of alcohol coming from Butler, and the man had “very bloodshot and watery eyes as well as slurred speech.”
Butler refused a blood test, but a warrant for the test was granted about 5:30 a.m., the report said. The report did not indicate Butler’s blood alcohol level.
Witnesses told police they saw the McLaren traveling south on Pecos at “an extremely high rate of speed.” Near the intersection, the McLaren’s undercarriage struck the roadway “due to suspension compression,” causing a gouge mark in the road.
The car then slid sideways about 225 feet, hit a curb and “continued airborne” into the parking lot, traveling another 185 feet before hitting the Camry. From the gouge mark in the road, the McLaren traveled about 550 feet before stopping, the report said.
Dream Exotics of Las Vegas rented the McLaren to Butler at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, rental manager Vic Tyagi said in a phone interview Monday. He and some friends had rented two cars, including the McLaren, Tyagi said.
They showed no signs of impairment, passed all of the rental company’s background checks and were “100 percent responsible and eligible for a rental,” he said.
Butler was charged with DUI resulting in death, DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm, and two counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm. As of Wednesday, he remained hospitalized and in custody without bail, court records show.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.