ICE reports that wrong-way driver involved in crash that killed Las Vegas police officer was in the US illegally

Federal officials informed local media outlets that a driver who caused a fatal accident by driving the wrong way and killing an off-duty Las Vegas police officer was in the U.S. illegally.

The incident occurred on Dec. 12 when Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez, 31, was driving a Ford F150 in the wrong direction on the northbound side of Interstate 15. He collided with the Toyota Corolla of Officer Colton Pulsipher, 29, from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). Both individuals tragically lost their lives in the crash, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Jimenez-Jimenez, originally from Mexico, had entered the U.S. illegally twice in 2019. An official from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement disclosed that he had been sent back to Mexico under an expedited removal order.

In January 2020, Jimenez-Jimenez applied for admission to the U.S. with Customs and Border Protection in Brownsville, Texas, but he was ordered to be deported in December 2021 by an immigration judge, ICE said. 

Officer Colton Pulsipher’s casket is seen will fellow officers as pallbearers on Dec. 18, 2024.  (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Facebook)

He leaves behind a wife and three young children, LVMPD said on Facebook. 

A subsequent department post included photographs from his memorial service in Moapa, where he lived, on Dec. 18.

Officers pay their respects to fallen Officer Colton Pulsipher who was killed in a wrong-way crash on Dec. 12, 2024. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Facebook)

“Officer Pulsipher served with courage, integrity, and dedication, always putting the safety of others before his own,” the LVMPD post said. “Rest easy, Officer Pulsipher. We’ve got it from here.”