A Texas man is in custody and is expected to face criminal charges after police say he fatally struck a pedestrian in Dallas and then drove nearly 40 miles to a restaurant with the victim's dead body in his passenger seat.
White Settlement Police said they were called to a restaurant parking lot at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday after a restaurant customer reported a vehicle in the parking lot with extensive damage and the driver slumped over the steering wheel. An officer arrived a short time later and noticed a lifeless person was also in the front passenger seat.
Police said the officers asked the driver, 31-year-old Nestor Luján Flores, to exit the vehicle and contacted emergency fire and medical personnel, who confirmed the passenger was deceased.
According to an arrest warrant released Monday night, employees of the Jack in the Box told police Flores "had come into the restaurant asking for a phone charger. The noticed he had blood on his shirt and hands."
Police said detectives believe the impact was so severe that the 45-year-old pedestrian was thrown inside the vehicle while he was in the cross walk near Cockrell Hill Road and I-30 in west Dallas. Police say his legs were recovered from the scene. The rest of his body was found in the passenger side of Lujan's vehicle in White Settlement, police said.
Despite a badly damaged hood and a large hold in his windshield, investigators say Flores drove 38 miles before stopping at the Jack in the Box parking lot between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., at least two hours before police were called by the customer.
"Once we placed him in the backseat of our car the officer commented that it smelled like a brewery in the backseat of his patrol car," said White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook.
Flores told police he was waiting for his brother to arrive and give him a ride, the warrant said.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Chief Cook told reporters Sunday that Flores never called 911 to report he’d had a collision. Cook added that in his 28 years of law enforcement, he'd never seen a case like this.
“It’s very unfortunate that he did not realize that this was a human being to stop and render aid, and call for help,” Cook said. “When you’re impaired to this level where you hit a pedestrian on the roadway and you think it’s an animal, that’s a significant impairment."
Investigators were initially unsure of where the collision took place, but on Sunday, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office notified White Settlement of a crash on the westbound service road of I-30 near Cockrell Hill Road where human remains were found near the roadway.
U.S. & World
Because the crash is believed to have taken place in Dallas, the investigation has been turned over to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.
The medical examiner's office will work to confirm a match between the evidence found on the road and the body found in the car. Meanwhile, Flores's vehicle has been seized and turned over the Dallas County Sheriff's Department as evidence. A blood search warrant was also obtained and test results are pending.
Flores is expected to face charges including intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid. He was previously arrested and convicted in Plano for driving while intoxicated.
As of Monday evening, Flores was awaiting transfer to the Dallas County jail. His family said Monday night they were searching for an attorney to represent Flores and had no further comment.
Flores was arrested in 2020 in Plano for driving while intoxicated and was convicted in 2021.
On Oct. 26, 2001, Chante Mallard, a nursing assistant, was driving home when she struck Gregory Glenn Biggs, a homeless man. Mallard drove home, parked in her garage and left the man lodged in her windshield to die. His body was later dumped in a park. The medical examiner testified at her murder trial that had she taken Biggs to a hospital he likely would have survived his injuries. Mallard, 47, is currently serving a 50-sentence for murder and tampering with evidence and is eligible for parole on March 4, 2027.
