Rachel Maria Terranova (Clark County Detention Center)
A 27-year-old woman in Nevada is accused of killing a man in a hit-and-run collision, then allegedly driving more than an hour away to get her car repaired and checking online for news about the crash. Rachel Maria Terranova was taken into custody last month and charged with one felony count of duty to stop at the scene of an accident in the collision that killed 35-year-old Darrel Redhawk Pingleton, court records show.
According to a news release from the Nevada State Police — Highway Patrol, troopers at about 5:05 a.m. on April 28 responded to a call regarding a “fatal hit and run pedestrian auto crash” that took place in the separating area of the I-215 Summerlin Parkway northbound off-ramp and the I-215 Far Hills northbound on-ramp.
Police said that the suspected driver — later identified as Terranova — was driving a Honda Civic, from between 2017 and 2021, when she struck and killed Pingleton. The color of the Civic was not known to authorities in the immediate aftermath of the collision.
“Following the collision, the driver of the Honda fled the scene,” the release states. “The Honda involved will have right front-end damage.”
The person who placed the initial 911 call told the dispatcher that they came across a dead person on the I-215 Beltway, court documents obtained by Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS state. Investigators were later able to determine that Pingleton, of Alpine, California, was walking near the off-ramp at about 11:45 p.m. on April 27 when he was hit by the Civic allegedly being driven by Terranova. Medics pronounced Pingleton dead at the scene.
Authorities reportedly found broken pieces from a Honda Civic near Pendleton’s body, which set off a search for Civics in the area that had recently suffered damage to the front.
A few days later, on May 1, an employee at an auto body shop in Pahrump, Nevada — which is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas — notified authorities about a Honda Civic that had been brought in with damage to the front and what appeared to be blood on the outside of the vehicle, KLAS reported.
Asked about the damage to her car, Terranova reportedly said that she was driving on April 27 when she crashed into some construction equipment in or near the road. However, the Nevada Department of Transportation informed investigators that there was no construction taking place in the areas where Terranova claimed to have had the accident.
Troopers responded to the shop in Pahrump and obtained a search warrant for the vehicle. Investigators reportedly said they recovered human hair from the outside of the vehicle’s windshield and blood spatter on the outside of the car’s bumper that tested positive for human blood.
Surveillance footage obtained by police reportedly showed Terranova leaving her house on April 27 in the Civic without damage but returning in one that had been in a front-end crash. The broken car pieces recovered from where Pingleton was killed also matched Terranova’s car, police said.
Additionally, investigators reportedly seized Terranova’s cellphone, which revealed that she had been performing internet searches looking for news about the crash, KLAS reported.
Terranova was taken into custody on May 30. Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Joe M. Bonaventure ordered that Terranova be released with medium electronic monitoring on the condition that she “stay out of trouble,” court records show.
Terranova is currently scheduled to appear for her preliminary hearing on Aug. 5.
Authorities have emphasized that the investigation into the fatal accident remains ongoing and are urging anyone with relevant information to contact the Highway Patrol Division at (702) 486-4100 or contact the Nevada Highway Patrol Multi-Disciplinary Investigation & Reconstruction Team (MIRT) at (702) 432-5392.
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