Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Attorney Kenneth Stover listens to testimony in Storey County Justice Court on Monday while his client, Randy Boyd, watches. Boyd was bound over to district court for his part in an accident that killed a 16-year-old in December.
VIRGINIA CITY - A Dayton man accused of causing an accident that took the life of a 16-year-old on Six Mile Canyon Road will stand trial on two of three charges leveled against him, a Storey County Justice of the Peace determined Monday.
Randy Boyd, 22, was bound over to district court on one count of reckless driving with wanton disregard causing death or serious injury and one count of failure to render aid following an accident.
A third charge of battery with a deadly weapon was dismissed by acting Justice of the Peace Laura Grant following the preliminary hearing in Storey County Justice Court.
According to Storey County investigators, Randy Boyd and Daren Vandenberg, both 22, got into a physical dispute with Robert De La O, 16; Sam Villa, 17; Jose Elizondo Jr., 18; and David Flores, 17; at the Occidental Mini Mart in Dayton before allegedly chasing De La O's Lincoln Continental up Six Mile Canyon Road.
The chase ended when the Lincoln struck a guardrail and overturned.
Boyd and Vandenberg fled, as did an injured Villa and Flores. De La O was fatally injured. Elizondo had to be cut from the wreck.
The three passengers in the car were among the nine witnesses who took the stand Friday. The men claim the fight was initiated by Boyd and Vandenberg, who used racial slurs and swung at one of the boys.
"After the fight, we got back in the car and they were trying to break our windows so we drove off," Flores said.
Boyd has claimed he was mugged and chased the Lincoln to detain the four men for police. His defense attorney, Kenneth Stover, of Reno, asked Flores if the four men had "jumped" Boyd.
"If you call two hits jumped, then yes we jumped him," Villa responded.
After the fight, Boyd and Vandenberg allegedly chased the Lincoln west on Six Mile Canyon Road at speeds in excess of 80 mph.
Michael Hynick, who was driving on the road that night, said he saw the two cars pass him.
"When we turned onto Six Mile the lights were off in the distance. Within moments the headlights were upon us and beyond us. It really startled us," Hynick said. "They were zig-zagging back and forth, it looked like a drag race."
Flores said the truck hit the Lincoln on the passenger side just before the bridge, causing the Lincoln to "skid, swerve, flip and hit the guardrail," causing him to pass out.
"When I woke up, I felt blood dripping and I looked up and saw Robert above me," Flores said.
Flores also said he saw Boyd's truck turn around and stop briefly before leaving.
District Attorney Harold Swafford said this incident warranted the charges.
"Driving that way in a 25 mph zone, passing cars, playing bumper cars ... I don't think anything could be more reckless than what happened that night," Swafford said.
During his closing argument Stover said his client had no choice but to hit the Lincoln, because his only other option was to go off the road into the ravine.
In dismissing the third charge, Grant said that the charge doesn't apply in this case because battery with a deadly weapon is defined as being done by one person to another. Because it was a car hitting another car and not a person, the charge doesn't apply.
Boyd is scheduled be arraigned in Storey County District Court at 10 a.m. June 16. He is currently free on bail.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.