LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The CEO of Lee’s Discount Liquor, who died in a fatal crash last year, was driving with a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said.
Kenny Lee was killed in the crash on Nov. 19, 2021, on U.S. 93 between Ely and West Wendover, near the Nevada-Utah border. Lee, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from his vehicle and died at the crash site, police said.
Toxicology results showed Lee’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.218%, records showed. The legal limit is 0.08%.
Lee was driving a Dodge Caravan, which was carrying cases of alcohol, police said. The van crossed the centerline, hitting a Ford F-250, documents from Nevada State Police said.
Dispatchers received their first report about the crash at 10:25 a.m., records showed. The first trooper arrived at 11:18 a.m. Police said that section of U.S. 93 is “relatively flat and straight” and that the speed limit is 70 mph.
The driver of the second vehicle and his passenger were not impaired and were able to exit the truck after the crash, police said.
Police noted Lee drove from Las Vegas to West Wendover on Nov. 18. During the trip, Lee experienced a tire issue on the drive. On the morning of the crash, the issue had been resolved, police said.
A person who police interviewed said she spoke with Lee the morning of the crash and “noted nothing out of the ordinary,” documents said.
Lee was the CEO of Lee’s Discount Liquor, Nevada’s largest liquor retailer, with 23 stores in Las Vegas, Reno, Mesquite, and West Wendover.
“It is with very heavy hearts that we regretfully announce that Kenny Lee passed away in a vehicle accident yesterday, November 19, 2021,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement after the crash.
Lee’s death came less than three months after his father and founder of Las Vegas Lee’s Discount Liquor stores, Hae Un Lee, died at 79 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.