Inset: Maximiliano Chavez in court for a deadly multi-vehicle DUI crash he’s accused of causing (KTNV/YouTube). Background: The scene of the deadly crash that Maximiliano Chavez is accused of causing in Las Vegas (KTNV/YouTube).
An allegedly drunk and stoned Las Vegas man is accused of causing a multi-vehicle DUI crash after running a red light — leaving several people critically injured, including a 9-year-old boy and a pregnant woman whose unborn baby died, cops say.
“Because of one person’s reckless and selfish decision to drive impaired and run a red light, a baby’s life was stolen,” wrote the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in a Facebook post on Monday. “A mother will never know the warmth of holding her child. A family will carry this pain for the rest of their lives, all because someone thought their convenience was more important than another’s life.”
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Maximiliano Chavez, 27, is charged with three felony counts of reckless driving and three felony counts of driving under the influence for the Saturday afternoon crash. Police officials say he was impaired at the time of the crash, with alcohol and THC allegedly in his system.
“This is not just another ‘accident,'” said LVMPD officials. “It is preventable. Every impaired driver on the road is making a choice that can destroy lives in an instant.”
Chavez appeared in court Monday and had his bail set at $250,000 after the judge overseeing his case brought up a previous DUI conviction from 2021, according to local ABC affiliate KTNV. She said he “poses a danger to our community” based on the facts of the case, which the judge listed.
“There is an adult who is in critical condition in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, there is another child in the hospital with life-threatening injuries of fractured skull, of brain bleed,” the judge said, noting how the status of the two victims is “unclear to the court,” and whether they “will even survive” their injuries.
“This court is very much aware that this is an individual with a relatively limited criminal history, however a glaring concern to this court is this prior conviction for driving under the influence,” the judge concluded. “That causes the court exceptional concern that this is an individual who poses a grave risk of danger to our community.”
Chavez is accused of drinking before getting behind the wheel and “ingesting marijuana via THC pen,” according to prosecutors. He was reportedly still behind bars Monday awaiting his next court date.
“Let this tragedy be a wake-up call that saves another family from living this nightmare,” LVMPD officials said.
