(Adds details on arrest, paragraph 5)
By Alexia Shurmur
LAS VEGAS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - An Oregon woman who killed one
woman and injured at least 35 pedestrians when she plowed her
car into crowds on a Las Vegas Strip sidewalk on Sunday evening
was driving with her license suspended, authorities said on
Monday.
Lakeisha N. Holloway, 24, who was homeless and living in her
sedan with her toddler, gave herself up to officers a short
distance from the scene of the carnage. She parked her car and
told a valet to call 911, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff
Joe Lombardo told a news conference.
Surveillance video from the scene supports the police
assertion that Holloway drove into pedestrians as "an
intentional act," Lombardo said.
He told reporters Holloway made a statement to police
explaining her motive. He declined to relate what she said,
other than that the incident did not appear to be a militant
attack.
According to an arrest report posted online, Holloway told
detectives she had a stressful time on Sunday, trying to rest
and sleep inside her vehicle, but that she was told to move by
security guards at the properties where she stopped.
"Her license was suspended by the Oregon DMV in 2012 and was
also suspended by (Portland's) Multnomah County in 2013 and has
not been reinstated," said Oregon Department of Transportation
spokeswoman Sally Ridenour.
U.S. law enforcement has been on heightened alert since 14
people died in a Dec. 2 shooting massacre in San Bernardino,
California, by a married couple inspired by Islamic extremists.
Sunday's incident occurred during the Miss Universe beauty
pageant at a nearby hotel.
Holloway repeatedly drove her 1996 Oldsmobile into
pedestrians on the crowded walkway, banging into newspaper
stands and poles, Lombardo said.
Bystanders pounded on the car window and tried to open the
door in a futile attempt to stop her, he said.
Justin Cochrane, a tourist having dinner on The Strip, told
CNN the sedan, its windshield cracked, barreled past him. He
said the driver then swerved to avoid a truck before
accelerating back onto the sidewalk.
"It was mayhem, and it was very intentional," Cochrane told
CNN. "People were flying. This child I saw, literally, hit. And
the sound, I'll never forget."
Jessica Valenzuela, 32, of Buckeye, Arizona, died from
injuries after she was struck, the Clark County Coroner-Medical
Examiner's office said.
Other victims included visitors from Colorado, Florida,
Mexico and Quebec, Canada.
Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson said his
office planned to bring charges of murder with use of a deadly
weapon and other counts against Holloway, who was held without
bail.
POOR DRIVING RECORD
Holloway, who is from Oregon and whose car was registered in
Portland, had been living in the car in Las Vegas for about a
week with her 3-year-old daughter, Lombardo said. The child was
in the car when Holloway drove into the pedestrians.
University Medical Center was treating three patients listed
as critical and two in serious condition, spokeswoman Danita
Cohen said. An 11-year-old was among the injured, she said.
Holloway's child, who was unhurt in the incident, is in
protective custody, Lombardo said.
In the spring of 2012, Holloway received an award from a
Portland career-mentoring nonprofit for being a role model for
high school students, according to The Skanner, a community
website in the Pacific Northwest.
The story recounts Holloway describing her mother as having
"turned to alcohol, leaving Lakeisha to fend for herself."
Holloway was homeless during her freshman year in high school,
according to The Skanner, but had since graduated.
On her Facebook (O:FB) page, Holloway indicated she had studied at
Portland Community College.
The Oregon DOT's Ridenour noted that generally drivers
cannot obtain a license in another state if their license has
been suspended. That is because licensing departments across the
country share information, as do law enforcement agencies.
In Oregon, where a driver can have multiple suspensions at
one time, Holloway was cited and convicted in 2011 for driving
uninsured and operating a vehicle without a license.
Then, in 2012, three months after being issued her first
driver's license, her license was suspended for failing to
comply with insurance requirements. It was suspended again in
2013 for failing to pay court fines related to previous
citations.