LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man convicted last week for killing another man in a hit-and-run and injuring a second person fled to the Middle East but was arrested on a connecting flight, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
On Friday, a jury convicted Max Mones on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, involving the death of Kenneth Ham; and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury to Elena Russell, records said. Mones left the scene of the July 2019 crash that left Ham dead and Russell injured.
After the jury reached its verdict, Clark County District Court Judge Jessica Peterson ordered Mones to be placed on some form of check-in monitoring and to surrender his passport, documents said. But several hours after the jury handed down the verdict, Mones left the country for Iraq.
On Saturday, Nevada State Police learned Mones posted on TikTok “showing a photo of what [appeared] to be a flight departing from Las Vegas with a post stating, ‘Goodbye Las Vegas,’” documents said.
According to a witness, Mones sent text messages to a friend saying he would go back to his home country should he be convicted documents said.
Authorities in Dubai detained Mones on a connecting flight, documents said. On Sunday, Mones returned to the United States and was arrested in San Francisco.
Mones faced a new felony as of Monday, records said. A booking photo was unavailable Monday.
In an unrelated case, a man accused of driving impaired and hitting and killing a veteran who was riding a motorcycle also reportedly left the country. Las Vegas Metro police arrested Iurie Trofim, 40, hours after the fatal crash in August on the Red Rock Loop. The collision killed Carson Heath, 55, a husband, father and Marine Corps veteran.
Trofim paid a bail bondsman $1,500 to secure his release, records said. In the days after his arrest and subsequent release, Trofim allegedly put his home up for sale and returned to Moldova, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
The United States has no extradition treaty with Moldova. Instead, authorities there handle international requests on a case-by-case basis as “the Moldovan constitution does not permit extradition of its nationals,” a U.S. State Department document said.
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