LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A 22-year-old convicted thrice for driving impaired was out of custody amid his fourth DUI arrest as prosecutors awaited his blood outcomes — police then arrested him for his fifth DUI however this time, he’s accused of killing a veteran.
Las Vegas Metro police arrested Alfredo Jauregui, 22, on Oct. 5 on fees of DUI leading to loss of life, data stated. Jauregui, who doesn’t have a driver’s license, is accused of killing George Brown, 48, as Brown was within the street on Marion Drive close to Nellis Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue.
Brown’s loss of life marks Jauregui’s fifth DUI accusation since 2021, data stated. A big flaw within the system means impaired drivers, even repeated offenders, have little to no restrictions whereas their felony instances transfer by means of court docket.
A memorial stands the place Metro police say Alfredo Jauregui killed George Brown on Marion Drive close to Nellis Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue. (KLAS)
This time it had lethal penalties.
The lethal crash
Simply earlier than dawn, officers consider Jauregui collided with Brown after which drove off, forsaking a number of items of a household truck.
“I know that you didn’t set out to kill my cousin that day,” stated Brown’s cousin, Amaris Davis. “At the end of the day. There’s so many different things you could have done, and you didn’t have to drive that day.”
Davis believes Brown was getting a head begin that morning and was strolling to work as a handyman.
George Brown (left), a father, cousin and veteran, was 48 years previous when he died on Oct. 5, 2024. (KLAS)
“It felt like a ton of bricks just hit you,” she stated about studying about his loss of life.
Officers later discovered the truck in a close-by house advanced. Detectives then spoke with the truck’s registered proprietor, Jauregui’s member of the family, who stated Jauregui was not dwelling, paperwork stated. Jauregui was in actual fact dwelling and instructed officers he believed he hit a purchasing cart.
As a part of their investigation, police spoke with an officer who was patrolling within the space across the time of the collision. The officer remembered seeing an older Ford Ranger that didn’t have an working headlight. The officer famous the automotive’s license plate and, not understanding on the time the truck would turn out to be a suspect automobile, was dispatched as an alternative to the collision scene.
Prior DUI arrests
“This was entirely preventable,” Davis stated.
On the time of Jauregui’s arrest in October 2024, he racked up three misdemeanor DUI convictions, data stated: One DUI on Jan. 8, 2021; a second on Sept. 4, 2021; and a 3rd on Jan. 1, 2022.
In Might 2024, a North Las Vegas police officer stopped Jauregui in the identical truck for dashing, paperwork stated. The officer stated Jauregui appeared impaired. That, and an open can of beer in a cup holder, led to his arrest — his fourth DUI-related arrest since 2021, police stated.
On the time of Alfredo Jauregui’s arrest in October 2024, he racked up three misdemeanor DUI convictions, data stated: One DUI on Jan. 8, 2021; a second on Sept. 4, 2021; and a 3rd on Jan. 1, 2022. (KLAS)
“What jumped out at me is he is 22 years previous and he has this many DUI arrests,” Jauregui’s attorney told a judge during his probable cause hearing on June 1. “It is form of unhappy greater than every little thing this younger man hasn’t figured it out after no less than the primary arrest.”
The choose set Jauregui’s bail at $10,000 ordering him to put on an alcohol monitoring bracelet and pleading with him to not drive.
“It seems like this defendant has no capacity to alter his behavior,” the choose stated as he imposed his circumstances.
Testing delays
Beneath Nevada regulation, that was so far as he may go as a result of prosecutors had but to file their felony criticism. Typically in DUI instances, the felony criticism won’t be filed till blood take a look at outcomes are confirmed. That course of can take a number of months.
Delays in blood testing — a vital piece of proof when accusing somebody of driving impaired — imply delays in justice. The 8 Information Now Investigators discovered that Las Vegas Metro police tackle common 105 days to course of a blood take a look at. For Henderson police, the typical time is 101 days.
Prosecutors will rush the checks in instances involving loss of life. Toxicology testing, the place labs take a look at for medicine, can take for much longer. For instance, Henderson police stated its common toxicology screening takes 294 days.
A technician evaluates blood on the LVMPD crime lab. The 8 Information Now Investigators discovered that Las Vegas Metro police tackle common 105 days to course of a blood take a look at. For Henderson police, the typical time is 101 days. (KLAS)
In 2022, the 8 Information Now Investigators adopted one lady’s DUI case — her seventh — the place a Henderson choose pleaded together with her to not get behind the wheel as prosecutors awaited her blood outcomes.
“You can’t drive. Do you understand?” the choose instructed the girl amid the delay.
Two weeks later, prosecutors had but to file their felony criticism, noting all the metropolis’s phlebotomists had been at an out-of-town convention.
North Las Vegas police, the company that arrested Jauregui for that fourth DUI, stated it examined his outcomes a few month after his arrest. Nonetheless, the outcome was not but added to his felony case by the point he returned to court docket months later.
On Aug. 27, 2024, North Las Vegas Justice Court docket Decide Kalani Hoo allowed Jauregui’s launch to proceed as a result of prosecutors had not filed their felony criticism nor had been the blood outcomes accessible. (KLAS)
On Aug. 27, prosecutors requested a further 90 days to file that felony criticism. Data present his alcohol-monitoring bracelet confirmed a violation in mid-August.
The bracelet solely confirmed one violation, in response to a video recording from the listening to. As a result of prosecutors had not filed their felony criticism nor had been the blood outcomes accessible, North Las Vegas Justice Court docket Decide Kalani Hoo allowed Jauregui’s launch to proceed.
On high of his launch, the corporate operating the alcohol monitoring program terminated Jauregui as a result of he didn’t pay fines related to it, a court docket spokesperson stated.
By the tip of August, with three DUI convictions and a fourth hanging over his head, Jauregui was out of custody with no monitor in any respect.
The corporate that runs the court docket’s alcohol monitoring program terminated Jauregui as a result of he didn’t pay fines related to it, a court docket spokesperson stated. (KLAS)
“After the ankle monitor went off, it should have been, ‘You’re going straight to CCDC and all of this could have been avoided,’” Davis stated. “Knowing that this was preventable, and they didn’t do anything about it and it just was a continue, let go, you come back, stay out of trouble, don’t drink and drive.”
Penalties
“It is very difficult to Monday morning quarterback, it just is,” Las Vegas Justice Court docket Chief Decide Melisa De La Garza stated.
De La Garza oversees the valley’s largest justice court docket, just like the court docket listening to Jauregui’s fourth DUI case. The 8 Information Now Investigators requested her about generalities and specifics about Nevada regulation — not about Jauregui’s case.
“It is difficult to put a restriction on somebody when you don’t have those blood results when you don’t have the complaint in front of you,” De La Garza stated.
The usual for many DUI instances is to delay for 4 months, De La Garza stated, as a result of anticipated testing delays.
Paperwork the 8 Information Now Investigators obtained reveal Alfredo Jauregui admitted to police he consumed cocaine, marijuana and alcohol within the hours earlier than the crash that killed George Brown. (KLAS)
“When somebody comes through that door and we don’t have results, and we don’t have a complaint in front of us, then it’s a violation of somebody’s rights to just hold them for an unknown amount of time and take away their liberty just waiting,” De La Garza stated.
Alfredo Jauregui didn’t have to attend. Simply 5 weeks after he promised to return to court docket, prosecutors had been accusing him of killing George Brown. Paperwork the 8 Information Now Investigators obtained reveal he admitted to police he consumed cocaine, marijuana and alcohol within the hours earlier than the crash.
“This all could have been avoided and it makes us severely and extremely angry to know that is wasn’t taken seriously the first few times,” Davis stated.
DUIs are misdemeanors till an individual receives their third arrest inside seven years. A felony DUI conviction can carry jail time and the requirement a driver have an interlock machine positioned of their automobile. Jauregui racked up the three instances so shortly that he didn’t have a second DUI conviction earlier than his third arrest, that means all three remained misdemeanors. Data present in these first three DUI instances, municipal court docket judges ordered Jauregui to attend lessons, keep out of bother and pay a high-quality.
With a number of failures to look, municipal court docket judges sentenced Alfredo Jauregui to 98 days in jail for one case and 82 days in jail for 2 instances mixed, spokespeople for the cities of Henderson and Las Vegas stated. (KLAS)
With a number of failures to look, these judges sentenced Jauregui to 98 days in jail for one case and 82 days in jail for 2 instances mixed, spokespeople for the cities of Henderson and Las Vegas stated.
“I just think that it needs to be taken seriously from the jump,” Davis stated. “Even in the first one you can up the charges or up the severity of it more so that way people don’t have to die or be hurt before it’s taken seriously.”
All that’s left for Brown’s household is a roadside memorial as they query why delays allowed a repeat offender to drive off and ultimately face one lethal consequence.
“To know that you’re only 22, and you had all of those DUIs: What made you think that you were invisible from the law?’” Davis stated.
A technician checks blood on the LVMPD crime lab. The Division of Public Security has requested lawmakers for a state crime lab for years, however they pulled their newest request final 12 months. (KLAS)
One potential resolution to the testing disaster is constructing a state crime lab. Nevada is one in all two states with out one. The Division of Public Security has requested lawmakers for one for years, however they pulled their newest request final 12 months.
Jauregui’s felony case involving Brown’s loss of life was paused amid a competency analysis, that means a choose doesn’t consider he perceive the felony proceedings towards him.
Nevada’s DUI with loss of life regulation permits a choose to condemn an individual to anyplace from two to twenty years in jail, although the utmost period of time an individual can serve with out parole eligibility is eight years. Jauregui turned down a deal to serve no less than three, an quantity Davis’ household stated doesn’t match the crime.
