‘I need help,’ Las Vegas-area driver jailed in 2 DUIs after killing 3 heads to treatment court

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Henderson man with two open DUI cases – who killed three of his friends as a teenager – was accepted into a court treatment program but will remain in custody for at least a week.

Sean Larimer, 36, faces two DUI charges in two separate incidents: one from August 2023 and one from this January, records said. In 2003, Larimer, then 16, was driving with several passengers when he lost control and crashed into a wall. Three 15-year-olds died in the crash.

Earlier this month, Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Joe Bonaventure ordered Larimer back into custody after he failed to appear for a hearing, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported.

The case now moved to DUI court involves Larimer’s August arrest. 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.

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.

Before his re-arrest, Bonaventure had 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.

When police arrested Larimer on the bench warrant, he told the officer, “I need help,” documents said.

Larimer was scheduled to appear in DUI court on March 7.

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