Police arrested a man Saturday night in Texas after he allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian before driving nearly 40 miles with the body in his passenger seat.
Officers responded to a welfare check at a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot around 11:15 p.m., according to the White Settlement Police Department. The caller reported a car with damage to the hood, windshield, and front end, with the driver hunched over the steering wheel.
“The officer arrived and noticed what appeared to be a human body with no signs of life in the front passenger seat,” according to the news release. “The officer immediately had the driver step out of the vehicle and detained him for further investigation.”
“Detectives believe the impact was so severe, that the pedestrian was thrown inside the vehicle and came to rest on the passenger seat,” according to the release.
Medical personnel and the local fire department determined the passenger was deceased at the scene, according to the release. Evidence at the scene led police to believe the pedestrian was struck somewhere between Arlington and White Settlement. (RELATED: REPORT: Alleged Hit-And-Run Driver Fatally Dragged Bicyclist For One Mile)
The driver, identified as 31-year-old Nestor Joel Lujan Flores, told police he thought he hit an animal in Dallas and continued to drive to the parking lot in White Settlement, about 38 miles from Dallas. He did not notify the police about the incident, the release stated.
Police said Sunday that human remains were found near a roadway on Interstate Highway 30 in Dallas that might possibly match the victim whose body was recovered in the fast food chain parking lot.
Flores is in custody pending a charge of intoxication manslaughter, according to police. He was arrested in 2020 for driving while intoxicated by the Plano Police Department and convicted for the same charge in 2021.