A judge in Las Vegas denied release from house arrest for Ivan Pantoja-Lizarraga. However, the judge did did set bail for the 19 year old man accused of a DUI related death that killed a local Las Vegas woman.
The defendant was arrested for two charges. The first was driving under the influence of alcohol involving an accident with death and secondly for failure to drive in the travel lane.
The prosecutors are still trying to formally file charges and submit the requisite paperwork. The defendant will have his next court date in a few days as a status check on the prosecutors's progress with formal charges. Pantoja-Lizarraga's bail was set with the requirement of a $250,000 surety bond or $25,000 in cash. The judge said he felt like that was a light bail amount for the state, but his decision stood nonetheless.
Investigators say that Pantoja-Lizarraga was driving a car north on Upland Boulevard when he crashed into Maria Sotelo. Ms. Sotelo was standing behind her light pick up truck when she was struck. She was rushed to University Medical Center, but declared dead upon arrival.
At the standard 72-hour hearing, the Chief Deputy District Attorney told William Klephart, who is acting Justice of the Peace, that formal charges had not yet been filed because the state was waiting for blood alcohol test results. The DA asked for three extra days to complete that process.
The Defense attorney pleaded to the judge to release his client, pending formal charges. While the DA cited the defendant as a flight risk in his argument to keep the defendant on house arrest. Justice of the Peace, O'neal sided with the District Attorney's office by saying the additional 3 days was not an unreasonable wait.
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