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Man driving 89 mph before fatal crash, BMW reeked of marijuana

The 70-year-old pickup truck driver slipped in and out of consciousness in his final moments. The other driver stood outside his heavily damaged BMW, a powerful stench of marijuana drifting from the car.

These are some of the details included in an arrest report that sheds more light on a North Las Vegas crash that killed one man and resulted in the arrest of another on Saturday.

Police were called out to North Decatur Boulevard and West Jay Avenue at 4:16 p.m. after several people called 911 to report a violent crash in which they said a black 2015 BMW 328i plowed into the left side of a white 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup truck, identified as Leonard Carella of North Las Vegas, was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The speed limit on Decatur is 45 mph, but officers were able to determine that the BMW had been going 89 miles per hour just two seconds before impact, which is 44 miles per hour above the speed limit, and 70 miles per hour when it crashed into the truck, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

The sheer impact sent the white pickup about 112 feet south of the point of impact, where large gouge marks had been left in the road, while the BMW ended up about 91 feet away to the southeast, police said. Both cars were heavily damaged.

Officers at the scene met with Las Vegas resident Corey Clark, 20, the driver of the BMW, who would later tell officers that he thought he was going about 50 miles per hour.

“Both officers detected a heavy odor or marijuana emitting from the interior of the BMW and observed marijuana packages in plain view within the car’s interior,” the arrest report stated. One of the officers performed an impaired driving investigation on Clark, who admitted to smoking marijuana early that morning. He passed the field sobriety tests.

Clark, who had no injuries, was taken to University Medical Center to be examined. After getting a warrant from a judge, police were able to have hospital staffers draw blood from Clark to test for drug impairment at a future date, the report said.

Police also seized a backpack found by Clark’s car. In it they found a wallet and about 1.7 grams of apparent marijuana, police said.

In an interview, Clark told police he was driving south on Decatur when the truck rolled through the stop sign without stopping, according to the arrest report.

Clark, who was released on a bail of $50,000 with conditions that he not drive, do drugs or drink alcohol, faces a charge of reckless driving. His next court date is set for Nov. 8, court records show.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com or 561-324-6421. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.

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