A pedestrian was left with life-threatening injuries early Saturday after a Mercedes veered off South Las Vegas Boulevard and struck him on the sidewalk near 4th Street, then kept going until it slammed into a palm tree. The driver, identified by police as 68-year-old Robert Bush, showed signs of impairment and was arrested on DUI-related charges, according to investigators.
Metro police said officers responded around 4:50 a.m. to a report of a crash involving a pedestrian and a vehicle on South Las Vegas Boulevard, south of 4th Street, according to 8 News Now. The man was standing on the sidewalk ramp at the 4th Street crosswalk when the northbound Mercedes ran off the road and onto the sidewalk, police said. KSNV reported the man was 29 years old.
Police said the Mercedes struck the pedestrian as he stood there, then continued along the sidewalk before crashing into a palm tree. The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, the station's report said. Bush was also taken to a hospital for his own injuries, per the same account.
Impairment Investigation Leads to Arrest
Officers conducted an impaired driver investigation and determined that Bush showed signs of impairment, Metro police said. He was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on DUI-related charges, according to police.
A Grim Pattern on Las Vegas Boulevard
This is not the first deadly or near-deadly pedestrian crash elsewhere on South Las Vegas Boulevard this year. On January 1, a fatal hit-and-run vehicle-versus-pedestrian collision occurred on South Las Vegas Boulevard south of East Russell Road at about 1:03 a.m., when a northbound 2019 Cadillac XT5 struck a pedestrian who later died at UMC, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. That case remained under investigation by LVMPD's Collision Investigation Section, police said.
Another collision happened September 29 at the intersection of South Las Vegas Boulevard and Four Seasons Drive, when a Jeep driver failed to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk and struck him, according to an LVMPD release. That pedestrian died at Sunrise Hospital the following day, and police said his death marked the 90th traffic-related fatality in the department's jurisdiction this year.
Road Deaths Trending in Different Directions
Countywide, the picture is more complicated. Through Sept. 30, 149 people had died on Clark County roads, nearly 20 percent fewer than the 186 deaths recorded over the same period in 2025, the station's report noted. Of those, 54 were pedestrians, along with 43 motorcyclists and 20 unrestrained passengers or drivers.
Statewide, though, the trend moved the other way in September: Nevada recorded 30 road deaths that month, compared with 27 in September 2025, an 11 percent increase, per the same account. Saturday's crash adds another entry to the toll on South Las Vegas Boulevard this year, even as investigators continue working to determine exactly what led to the collision.
