How the Las Vegas Strip Responded to its Own Vehicle-Ramming Attack

How the Las Vegas Strip Responded to its Own Vehicle-Ramming Attack.

Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

A day after the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in the US occurred in New Orleans, it’s worth revisiting how Las Vegas responded to its own vehicle-ramming attack nine years ago.

Cement bollards, installed in response to a December 2015 vehicle-ramming attack near Planet Hollywood, can be seen lining both sides of the Las Vegas Strip in this photograph. (Image: kimley-horn.com)

On Dec. 20, 2015, a woman drove her 1996 Oldsmobile sedan onto the sidewalk near Paris Las Vegas, killing 32-year-old Arizona tourist Jessica Valenzuela and injuring 37 others.

In response, Clark County installed cement bollards along the length of the Las Vegas Strip, from the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign north to Sahara Avenue.

The 5,600 crash-rated bollards, in addition to 640 linear feet of crash-rated post and cable protection and 1,635 linear feet of concrete crash wall, were installed between 2017 and 2019, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $22 million.

According to Kimley-Horn, the North Carolina engineering consulting firm that designed the bollards, they provide “over eight total miles of pedestrian protection on this corridor.”

The bollards were strategically placed to protect the Strip’s busiest intersections. However, they do not eliminate every conceivable point where a vehicle might access the sidewalk especially in areas where driveways or other access points exist.

The SuspectLakeisha Holloway appears in her 2015 mug shot. (Image: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

The alleged driver was Lakeisha Holloway, a 24-year-old Portland, Ore. resident who had been living out of her car in Las Vegas for about a week before the incident.

She told police at the time that she was “hurting and wanted others to feel pain.” Holloway’s 3-year-old daughter was in the car during the incident but was not injured.

Prosecutors have described Holloway as above Nevada s legal limit for marijuana at the time (2 nanograms per milliliter of blood for THC or 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC metabolite).

She was charged with 71 counts, including murder with use of a deadly weapon, child abuse, attempted murder, and leaving the scene of an accident. However, her case was complicated by mental health issues that kept her confined to a state psychiatric hospital.

In March 2021, she was deemed competent to stand trial. In May 2023, Holloway, representing herself and requesting a different public defender, rejected a plea bargain that would have avoided trial.

Her trial is currently scheduled to begin in March, nearly 10 years after her alleged crime.

 

 

Article Sources
Grant Bowie to Retire as MGM China CEO, Company Faces Challenges editorial policy.
  1. Trump ‘OK’ with Nevada Casino Closure Order, But He Can See Both Sides of the Vegas Issue

Compare Accounts
×
Hawthorne Race Course Moves Ahead on $450M Casino Project, Hires Veteran Industry Executive with Chicago-Area Ties
Provider
Name
Description
Hawthorne Race Course Moves Ahead on $450M Casino Project, Hires Veteran Industry Executive with Chicago-Area Ties  Ontario Priest Who Gambled Away $1 Million Meant for Refugees Imprisoned, Ordered to Pay It Back  Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Named in $60 Million Kevin Hart Sex Tape Lawsuit  Las Vegas Sport Bettor and Jeopardy! Phenom James Holzhauer Makes It 24 in a Row  Wind Creek Bethlehem Names Kathy McCracken GM, as Gaming Industry Shrinks Female Leadership Gap  Spanish Authorities Claim La Liga Soccer Matches Targeted for Fixing, Plan to Arrest 11, Including Players  Montana Lottery Says 142 Businesses Sports Betting Ready, Still Eyeing Early March Launch, $1,000 Max Bet Policy in Place  Omaha Beach Returns to Headline Churchill Downs Record Breaking September Meet  Wynn Resorts Stock Favored as Analysts See Macau Headwinds Abating  DOJ Tells Federal Appeals Court 2018 Wire Act Opinion Not a Threat to Lotteries