Steel beam crushes car on Las Vegas highway, killing police detective, officials say

A 45-year-old police detective died when a falling steel beam crushed his car on a Las Vegas highway, Nevada authorities reported.

Justin Terry, a 21-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with a wife and two sons, died in the freak accident Friday, June 10, police said in a news release.

Terry, who was on duty, was driving an unmarked police car behind a tractor trailer on U.S. 95 at 7:04 a.m. local time, KTNV reported.

Construction equipment hauled by the big rig struck a steel beam under an overpass in a construction zone, KVVU reported.

The collision dislodged the beam, which fell on Terry’s vehicle, killing him, Nevada State Police told the station. The semi driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.

The beam serves as an early-warning system to prevent oversized loads from destroying the entire overpass during construction, officials told KLAS.

“Of course, these beams are not supposed to fall down, and unfortunately this one did,” Justin Hopkins, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Transportation, told NBC News. An investigation into the incident has been opened.

Terry investigated sexual assault and abuse crimes with Las Vegas police. He founded a police program using dirt bikes to reach remote areas to aid people who are homeless.

This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Steel beam crushes car on Las Vegas highway, killing police detective, officials say."