Who is Rodrigo Cruz? Vegas driver nabbed after prankster pal who pushed cyclist to death dies after falling off van
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: A man randomly shoved a Las Vegas cyclist to her death from the window of a minivan on Sunday, October 25, only to fall out of the vehicle himself and die, according to police. The driver of the vehicle in which the alleged prankster was present during the prank is under arrest and appeared in court on Wednesday, October 28.
The victim, 55-year-old Michelle Weissman was riding her bike on Sunday, October 25 morning, when the passenger of a van, Giovanni Barajas, leaned out of the window and pushed her to the ground as part of a prank, according to a report by KVVU-TV.
The 20-year-old Barajas, who was riding as a passenger in the front seat leaned halfway out of the moving vehicle, in an attempt to strike the biker as part of the alleged prank and pushed Weissman. She died on the spot. In the force of the effort he took to push her, Barajas fell out of the window and skidded on the road for about 150 feet before hitting a traffic light, which instantly killed him, according to The Las Vegas Sun.
“It’s an absolutely senseless act,” Homicide Squad Lt Raymond Spencer said Sunday. “There’s no reason behind this that I can tell you why it occurred other than complete stupidity.”
The driver, Rodrigo Cruz, fled from the scene after the incident took place. Police identified him as the driver through interviews with friends and social media before eventually tracking down his house, where they located a burgundy Toyota Sienna van with damage consistent with the evidence at the scene of the mishap.
On Monday, October 26, police arrested the van's driver, Cruz, and charged him with two felony counts of failure to stop at the scene of a crash and a parole violation in a 2016 robbery case. The 22-year-old stated that he didn’t stop the car after his friend fell out of the window “because he was scared since he was on parole and didn’t think [Barajas] was hurt," police said.
Cruz allegedly told the police that his pal "was always doing stupid stuff". He is also facing a murder charge though it appears the Clark County District Attorney’s Office will not prosecute him on it, The Sun reported. "Gio was always doing stupid stuff but Rodrigo stated he wasn't intentionally driving in a manner to allow Gio to make contact with any pedestrians or the bicyclist," the police report stated.