Las Vegas judge jails driver for drinking while out of custody on 2 DUIs after killing 3

David Charns
·2 min read
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas judge jailed a man Thursday convicted of driving drunk and killing three of his friends as a teenager for allegedly drinking while out of custody amid two ongoing DUI cases, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Joe Bonaventure ordered the arrest of Sean Larimer, 36, on Thursday morning after Larimer failed to appear in court. Police arrested Larimer several hours later, a source told the 8 News Now Investigators.

Larimer faces two DUI charges in two separate incidents: one from August 2023 and one from this January, records said.

In August, Las Vegas Metro police responded to a crash at a business on Warm Springs Road near Cimarron Road, documents said. A witness told police he saw a driver, later identified as Larimer, driving around and attempting “to park forward and backwards,” documents said.

<em>Henderson police arrested Sean Larimer for DUI on Jan. 22, 2024. (Henderson Police Dept./KLAS)</em>
Henderson police arrested Sean Larimer for DUI on Jan. 22, 2024. (Henderson Police Dept./KLAS)

Tests showed Larimer’s blood alcohol level was 0.36 in the hours after the crash, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained. The legal limit in Nevada is 0.08.

Larimer pleaded no contest to the DUI charge in December, records said. The charge was technically for a first DUI offense within a seven-year window. Prosecutors said his juvenile record was sealed and it appears the judge nor prosecutors were aware of his history.

Last month, Bonaventure released Larimer on his own recognizance ahead of a February sentencing. Bonaventure ordered Larimer not to drink and not to drive. In court documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained, prosecutors allege Larimer “has been continuously consuming alcohol.” The document indicates Larimer’s alcohol-monitoring bracelet recorded alcohol in Larimer’s sweat over five days.

In a separate case, Henderson police said Larimer was involved “in a vehicle collision on private property” on Las Vegas Boulevard north of St. Rose Parkway late last month. He was booked on charges of DUI and for driving with a revoked license and later released.

<em>Sean Larimer, 16, in court in 2003 for a DUI crash that killed his three friends. (KLAS)</em>
Sean Larimer, 16, in court in 2003 for a DUI crash that killed his three friends. (KLAS)

Larimer’s deadly DUI case made headlines when it happened on Nov. 10, 2003, at Silver Springs Parkway and Pinion Springs Drive. Larimer, then 16, had four teenage passengers in the car when he lost control and crashed into a wall. The three killed were: Kyle Richard Poff, Travis Dunning, and Josh Parry. They were all 15.

Larimer’s 2003 case raised debate over whether he should be tried as an adult. It was determined he should be tried as a juvenile and he was sentenced to two years in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.

He also did public service and spoke out against drunk driving dozens of times at schools, telling students about the day his mistake killed his three lifelong friends.

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