LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A driver in the country illegally was nearly three times the legal limit when he killed a Las Vegas police officer in a wrong-way crash, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
On Dec. 12, 2024, Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez, 31, collided with LVMPD Officer Colton Pulsipher, 29, killing both. Jimenez-Jimenez was driving a truck southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 15 near the Valley of Fire. A third driver was also injured in the crash when she collided with Jimenez-Jimenez’s truck in the aftermath, documents said.
Jimenez-Jimenez had a blood-alcohol level of 0.205, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Monday. The threshold for Nevada police and prosecutors to establish fault in drunk-driving arrests is 0.08. Jimenez also had THC, the active psychoactive compound in marijuana products, in his system.
The truck Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez was driving when he collided with LVMPD Officer Colton Pulsipher. (Nevada State Police/KLAS)
Blood test results can take months, particularly when looking for advanced compounds, including THC.
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Jimenez-Jimenez, an undocumented immigrant, had applied for citizenship in 2020, but in 2021, an immigration judge in Texas ordered him removed from the country, an ICE spokesperson said in December. Jimenez-Jimenez entered the country illegally twice in 2019. Both times, ICE returned him to Mexico.
Pulsipher, a husband and father of three, was off-duty and headed home at the time, police said.
Investigators suspect Jimenez-Jimenez was traveling between 91 and 99 mph at impact, documents said. Police identified him through a passport and fingerprints.
On Dec. 12, 2024, Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez, 31, collided with LVMPD Officer Colton Pulsipher, 29, killing both. (Credit: Behind the Blue)
A passenger in Jimenez-Jimenez’s truck survived and walked off into a desert area before troopers arrived, documents said. Troopers later located the passenger more than nine hours after the crash, asleep in the desert. During an interview, the man said he and Jimenez-Jimenez worked for a landscaping company and drove to the desert to drink.
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In Jimenez-Jimenez’s truck, troopers located several empty alcoholic beverage containers, as well as receipts and packages, from a marijuana dispensary.
In Jimenez-Jimenez’s truck, troopers located several empty alcoholic beverage containers, as well as receipts and packages, from a marijuana dispensary. (Nevada State Police/KLAS)
Detectives located a video showing Jimenez-Jimenez and his passenger purchasing marijuana products from a drive-thru dispensary two days earlier, documents said. Video from the sale also showed Jimenez-Jimenez smoking marijuana while in the driver’s seat.
Jimenez-Jimenez’s truck was not registered in his name, and its owner never contacted police, documents said.
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