A heavily intoxicated driver hit and killed a pedestrian on Saturday night in Dallas, Tex. The driver, Nestor Luján Flores, proceeded unimpeded — despite the victim’s body occupying the passenger seat — for over 38 miles to a town called White Settlement on the west side of Fort Worth, where he stopped in the parking lot of a Jack In The Box. A worker in the restaurant called police to investigate after the grey Kia Forte had been parked for three hours. Police responded shortly after 11 p.m. to find the driver slumped over his steering wheel of the destroyed car.
According to reports from the police who questioned Flores, he claimed he thought he’d hit a deer. The collision occurred at the intersection of a highway service road and Cockrell Road, near Highway 30 in West Dallas, between a Home Depot and the interstate. I suppose it’s theoretically possible for a deer to be there, but highly unlikely. The impact was so severe that the victim’s body was thrown through the Kia’s windshield and landed in the passenger’s seat.
“It’s very unfortunate that he did not realize that this was a human being to stop and render aid, and call for help,” White Settlement police chief Christopher 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.”
Police questioning revealed the location of the impact, and the investigation turned up pieces of the victim’s clothing, disembodied human remains, and pieces of the Kia, including a headlight, at the scene.
Flores — who had previously been arrested and convicted for driving while intoxicated in Plano, Tex. — faces charges of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid. The Dallas County Sheriffs Office will continue the investigation to determine where Flores became intoxicated. Officers say if Flores was over-served at a bar or restaurant, the restaurant and server could be liable in the victim’s death as well.
I, for one, hope this man never gets his license back.