A wrong-way driver who killed an off-duty Las Vegas police officer earlier this month was in the United States illegally, federal officials told local media.
On December 12, 31-year-old Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez drove a Ford F150 in the wrong direction on Interstate 15 northbound, and encountered a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer in the process. Department (LVMPD) 29-year-old Officer Colton Pulsipher’s Toyota Corolla collided. Both men died.
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the local Fox 5 channel that Jimenez-Jimenez, a Mexican citizen, entered the United States twice in 2019 “and was returned to Mexico under an expedited deportation order.”
In January 2020, Jimenez-Jimenez applied to Customs and Border Protection in Brownsville, Texas, to enter the United States, but an immigration judge ordered him deported in December 2021, ICE said.
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The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Facebook that Officer Colton Pulsipher had been with the department since 2017. He once worked in the Tourism Safety Section of the Transportation Bureau. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Facebook)
Nevada State Police told Fox 5 Jimenez-Jimenez had alcohol and marijuana containers in his truck at the time of the crash. Toxicology results are pending.
LVMPD said on Facebook that Pulsipher has been with LVMPD since 2017 and is assigned to the Department of Transportation’s Travel Security Division, “where he works tirelessly to protect and serve our community.” He was returning home from get off work when the accident occurred.
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On December 18, 2024, Officer Colton Pulsipher’s casket will be carried by other police officers. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Facebook)
He leaves behind a wife and three young children, LVMPD said on Facebook.
A subsequent department post included photos from a memorial service held on Dec. 18 in Moapa, where he lived.
Officers are paying tribute to Officer Colton Pulsipher, who was killed in a wrong-way crash on December 12, 2024. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Facebook)
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“Officer Pulsipher is brave, has integrity, and is dedicated, always putting the safety of others before his own,” the LVMPD post said. “Relax, Officer Pulsipher. We get this from here.”
