An accused drunk driver allegedly struck and killed a Marine veteran in Las Vegas before being released on bail and fleeing the US.
Iurie Trofim, 40, is accused of crashing his Ram 1500 pickup truck into 55-year-old Carson Heath on Aug. 26. The 55-year-old was riding a Yamaha motorcycle during the crash, which occurred near Red Rock Canyon around 11 p.m. National Conservation Area, about 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, according to 8 News Now.
Emergency responders arrived at the crash site and began administering life-saving care to Heath, but the husband, father and Marine Corps veteran were pronounced dead at the scene.
Nevada Highway Patrol investigated and discovered parts of a Ram 1500 at the scene, but the pickup was nowhere to be found.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department then contacted the Nevada Highway Patrol the next morning about a call they responded to regarding a wreck involving a Ram 1500 about 10 miles from the Strip. KSNV reports this.
Police told the outlet that a witness followed the truck after seeing it drive onto the rim and watched as the driver, later discovered to be Trofim, veered off the road and became stuck.
Trofim was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
After his arrest, the police linked the car parts found at the scene of the accident to Trofim’s Ram 1500.
He was subsequently charged with driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs and reckless driving causing death, failing to stop in an accident causing death, failing to render aid in a car accident, failing to reduce speed or exercising the necessary caution, and not acting in a timely manner, driving on the right half of the roadway, according to legal documents obtained by KSNV.
The suspected drunk driver then appeared before a “judge pro tempore” – an unelected judge who acts as a substitute – on August 28. 8 News Now Reported.
The judge imposed a $10,000 bond on Trofim, required him to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet and banned him from driving.
According to 8 News Now, Trofim posted a $1,500 bond to secure his release.
However, at his arraignment on September 3, Trofim was nowhere to be found, and instead an attorney appeared in court on his behalf and entered a not guilty plea.
Prosecutor Yu Meng said in court on Tuesday that it appears Trofim fled the US after the fatal crash in August and is now back in his native Moldova, about 9,000 kilometers away from Las Vegas.
“We’ve been trying to locate him since last week when we found out he’s gone,” Meng said.
Trofim has dual citizenship, but had lived in Las Vegas for a long time before he allegedly murdered Heath.
Prosecutors later discovered that Trofim allegedly put his Vegas home up for sale just days after the collision.
Court records also show that the alcohol monitoring bracelet Trofim was ordered to wear by the judge was last pinged at Los Angeles International Airport on August 31, the outlet reported.
The device reportedly does not have a GPS function and does not track his movements.
Moldova does not have an extradition treaty with the US, and its “constitution does not allow the extradition of its nationals.” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Eastern European country’s Prosecutor General’s Office will use its discretion to handle requests for international legal assistance at the pre-trial stage, while the Moldovan Ministry of Justice will handle the pre-trial and correctional phases.
However, there are no records of a recent extradition from Moldova to the United States.
A Las Vegas court judge issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
However, Heath’s family are furious that the man who allegedly killed the husband and father while drunk behind the wheel is believed to have fled the US.
“How can this individual not be a flight risk in the eyes of any judge?” Heath’s cousin, Paula Donegan, told 8 News Now on Tuesday.
