You’re standing at a bus stop when a carjacked SUV runs a red light and hits you. The driver crashes the stolen car into you and other innocent people, then steals another car and does it again. Multiple victims, massive damages, lives destroyed. Who pays?
The criminal is judgment-proof, facing life in prison with no assets to pay damages. The car wasn’t used with permission, so the permissive-use doctrine bars claims against the owner. Without UM/UIM coverage, your insurer won’t cover injuries from an uninsured driver. This isn’t hypothetical – it happened on March 27, 2025, right here in Las Vegas.
Let me tell you exactly how this nightmare unfolded.
The Crime Spree That Changed Everything
Aerion Warmsley started his rampage at Aliante Casino around 4 AM when he murdered a 23-year-old victim. You know how you think casinos are safe with all that security? Well, this shows you’re never really safe anywhere.
Warmsley grabbed a stolen Mercedes-Benz and left Alliante Casino. He drove that thing like a maniac until he crashed it later that morning near Spring Mountain Road and Procyon Street. Think about it – this guy just committed murder, and he’s driving around Las Vegas in a stolen car. But here’s where it gets really scary for regular people like us.
Warmsley ditched the crashed Mercedes and walked to an auto repair shop in Chinatown. There, he approached a woman who was just going about her day and had no idea what was coming. Warmsley pulled a gun on her through her car window and said, “Get out of the car!”. She later told reporters, “He pulled a gun to my head through the window and told me to get the bleeping out of the car… she responded, ‘Please just don’t hurt me.'” Can you imagine? You’re just at an auto shop, and suddenly you’re staring down a gun barrel.
So now he’s got her gray Mercedes SUV. This is around 5 AM, and the guy’s already on a rampage. Police start chasing him, and honestly, what happens next is like something out of a movie. Warmsley’s flying down the road in this stolen SUV when he crashes right into a bus stop at Boulder Highway and Tropicana Avenue.
Two people were just standing there waiting for the bus. One person got a brain bleed and multiple fractures. The other person also got multiple fractures. The impact was so hard it sent at least one person flying.
But get this – Warmsley doesn’t stop. He leaves those injured people behind and walks to a Burger King drive-thru. There is a woman who just dropped off her kids and wanted to grab some breakfast. Normal mom stuff, right? Wrong place, wrong time. Warmsley shows up with his gun and takes her Kia. At least she was smart enough to let dispatchers know that her cell phone was in the car so they could track Warmsley.
Now police are chasing this guy in the Kia, and he’s going over 105 mph on Boulder Highway. The police air unit is screaming into their radios with urgent commands to stop him because they know this guy will keep hurting people.
Warmsley loses control of the Kia, but does he give up? No way. He forces his way into another car and takes the people inside hostage. The dispatch call was terrifying – “He carjacked a vehicle — the hostage is inside… we now have a victim inside this car.” Picture being in your car when some random criminal jumps in your backseat with a gun.
Police finally stopped this madness with a PIT maneuver near Boulder Highway and Sahara Avenue. They had officers from North Las Vegas Police, Las Vegas Metro, Henderson Police, and even the FBI involved. The helicopter footage showed Warmsley hitting 107 mph, driving on the wrong side of the road, and almost causing more crashes. It was pure chaos.
When they finally arrested Warmsley, the criminal justice system worked perfectly. Murder charges, carjacking charges, the whole thing. But here’s the catch – for all this criminal accountability, the civil recovery system leaves victims stranded. None of these victims has a civil path to recovery outside of the Victims of Crime Program because Warmsley is judgment-proof, and the stolen-vehicle owners aren’t liable.
The woman at the bus stop with the brain bleed? Her medical bills are probably in the hundreds of thousands. The guy with multiple fractures? He might never work again. The woman who lost her SUV and probably has PTSD. The woman whose Kia was carjacked, well, her car got totaled. The hostage family? They may need therapy for years.
Justice served in criminal court, but what about the victims’ financial devastation? Because when you dig into the insurance implications of this case, you realize this could happen to anyone.
Conclusion
This isn’t just about one crazy criminal. It’s about a gap in protection that exists for every single driver in Nevada. You know what’s scary? We have tons of uninsured drivers here, and criminals don’t carry insurance either.
Nevada law requires insurers to offer UM/UIM coverage equal to your bodily-injury limits and you must waive it in writing to decline. Locate your declarations page and find the lines for Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury and Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury – if they’re missing or rejected in writing, you have no backstop. In scenarios like Warmsley’s spree, only UM/UIM policies can cover medical bills, lost wages, and trauma costs.
Don’t gamble with your financial future – secure UM/UIM coverage today. Have you checked your UM/UIM limits? Let me know in the comments.
