Victims identified in crash that kills 3 at I-15 interchange

By Tiffany Gibson

Published Friday, June 18, 2010 | 7:13 a.m.

Updated Friday, June 18, 2010 | 3:59 p.m.

Three people died in a single-vehicle crash this morning after their car struck steel beams in a closed construction zone at a south Las Vegas Valley interchange, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The victims were identified this afternoon.

Trooper Chelita Rojas said the crash occurred about 2 a.m. on an on-ramp closed to traffic from the eastbound Las Vegas Beltway to northbound Interstate 15. She said two men and one woman were in the red Ford Mustang when it struck the beams.

Authorities said the driver, identified as 19-year-old Nicholas Scheafer of Las Vegas, failed to obey traffic control signs and barricades that were blocking the road, which was under construction. Investigators said he entered the northbound on-ramp, where construction materials -- including five steel I-beams -- were scattered across the concrete.

The front of the Ford struck the beams and entered the shoulder, where it came to rest, troopers said. All three occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene, Rojas said.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the other two victims as Robert Inouye, 23, and Tiffanee Anderson, 19, both of North Las Vegas. All three suffered blunt force trauma to the head, the coroner said.

The construction zone was marked with “road closed” signs and cones, Rojas said.

Clarification: The age of Nicholas Scheafer was changed after the coroner's office received updated information indicating he was 19 years old, not 22, as originally reported.