Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Scott Gragson, 53, is a well-known Las Vegas businessman who was arrested for DUI after causing an accident on Thursday afternoon that left one woman dead. Gragson was born and raised in Las Vegas and is currently the Executive Vice President of the Las Vegas Land Division with Colliers International. He’s known in Las Vegas as a prominent member, business leader, and philanthropist.
According to police, Gragson was driving his 2015 Range Rover SVR at a high rate of speed southbound on Granite Ridge Drive in Las Vegas on Thursday at around 4:50 PM when he lost control on a left curve south of Grey Feather Drive. The SUV struck multiple trees and rolled over. The 36-year-old right rear passenger sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. The 50-year-old left rear passenger and 46-year-old middle rear passenger sustained life-threatening injuries and were transported to UMC Trauma.
Scott Gragson is facing charges of DUI resulting in death, 2 counts of DUI resulting in significant bodily harm and 3 counts of reckless driving resulting in death or significant bodily harm. His bail is currently set at $250,000.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He’s the Grandson of Former Las Vegas Mayor Oran K. Gragson
Scot Gragson is the grandson of Oran K. Gragson, the longest-serving mayor of Las Vegas who was in power from 1959 to 1974.
Oran Gragson created the Regional Transportation Commission which was responsible for funding and building a lot of the roadways and transportation infrastructure in Las Vegas. He is also credited with forming the Regional Planning Coalition and a majority of the public parks and recreational facilities in Las Vegas were built during his time in office.
Oran was known for being a civil rights leader in the city that helped to bring affordable housing to minority communities. He was recognized by the Southern Nevada Urban League in 1983 with the Founders Award for his work helping minorities to secure housing and employment.
2. His Son Is NASCAR Driver Noah Gragson
Scott’s son, Noah, is a NASCAR driver who currently stands at 8th place in the NASCAR Xfinity series. He currently drives the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Noah made his debut in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2016 where he went on to win a race in his first two seasons. He won the 2018 Snowball Derby, his last race in the truck series, before moving on to the Xfinity Series in 2019
Noah has several photos with Scott on his Instagram account. Scott Gragson also owns the land that SpeedVegas, a performance driving experience in Las Vegas, is built on.
3. Scott Gragson Is an Accomplished Businessman
Scott Gragson has been the Executive Vice President of the Las Vegas Land Division of Colliers International, the third largest commercial real estate firm in the world, since 1997. Gragson apparently took over the family business that his father started. He has sold over a $1,000,000,000 in land transactions in his career and has been named Colliers Company-Wide Broker of the Year 3 times and Colliers Las Vegas Broker of the Year 5 times.
Scott specializes in vacant land acquisition and disposition as well as the assemblage of land parcels. He currently owns a portfolio of over 4,000 acres in the State of Nevada as managing member of GKT Acquisitions.
Colliers has not yet released a statement on Gragson or taken any action to discipline or terminate his employment.
4. He’s Involved in Numerous Charitable Causes
Scott Gragson is a local philanthropist who donates and helps several different organizations in the area. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada, he’s a Founder of Camp Firefly (which helps children afflicted with cancer and their siblings).
Scott is also a member of the Boy Scouts Invitational Golf Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Foundation, Hope for Prisoners and the Nevada Power Citizens Advisory Panel. He previously served on the Board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada. Lastly, he’s an active supporter of the Links for Life Foundation.
In addition to his philanthropy, he served on the board for the Bank of Las Vegas and has been asked to serve on the governor’s office of economic development familiarization tour committee due to his influence and connections throughout Las Vegas.
5. He Was Sued After Two People Died at SpeedVegas
Scott Gragson owns the land that SpeedVegas is built on and was sued in 2017 after an accident occurred at the facility. SpeedVegas is a “performance driving experience in Las Vegas” that lets guests drive a variety of exotic supercars around their 1.5-mile track. Their website boasts that they will “Bring your exotic car and off-road vehicle fantasies to life on the longest and fastest racetracks in Las Vegas”.
The track was chosen for the American spin-off of #1 UK television show Top Gear a crash occurred in May 2017 that killed instructor Gil Ben-Kely and customer Craig Sherwood. According to NESN, A lawsuit was filed on behalf of SpeedVegas driving instructor Francisco Durban that claimed the “Lamborghini Aventador involved in the fatal crash on Feb. 12 wasn’t safe for track use, as it was an open-top roadster and wasn’t fitted with a roll cage.” and that the car was outfitted with “numerous aftermarket modifications” that were recalled for safety reasons.
The lawsuit also claimed that the track itself “is inherently, excessively and unnecessarily dangerous in design and operation,” A settlement was eventually reached in the lawsuit and SpeedVegas remains open to this day.