Nestor Lujan Flores, inset, allegedly hit a pedestrian with his car and proceeded to drive with the pedestrian’s body next to him for nearly 40 miles. (KDFW, White Settlement Police Department)
A man driving in Dallas allegedly struck a pedestrian who flew through the windshield and landed in the front passenger seat. Instead of stopping, the man is accused of continuing to drive with his new passenger next to him for nearly 40 miles.
Police in White Settlement, Texas, said in a news release they were called shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday to a Jack in the Box restaurant in the 8700 block of Interstate Highway 30 Service Road. The caller said a gray Kia Forte had extensive front end and hood damage along with a shattered windshield. There also appeared to be a man slumped over the steering wheel.
An officer arrived and realized there was also a dead person in the passenger seat.
The officer got the driver, identified as 31-year-old Nestor Joel Lujan Flores, out of the car.
White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook told reporters the man was confused and claimed he thought he hit an animal. Paramedics responded and pronounced the passenger dead. Cops arrested Lujan Flores on a charge of intoxication manslaughter. The car had been parked at the restaurant parking lot for two or three hours before someone called 911.
Police were initially uncertain where the actual crash occurred, but the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday morning discovered a crash scene on the westbound service road of Interstate Highway 30 near Cockrell Hill Road. Sheriff’s office investigators found “human remains” that could belong to the victim in the restaurant parking lot.
Investigators now believe that Lujan Flores hit the pedestrian and proceeded to drive 38 miles to the restaurant. He never called police. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office will take over the investigation since the crash happened in that jurisdiction. Officials did not identify the victim.
Lujan Flores has a previous conviction in 2021 for driving while intoxicated in Collin County. The Plano Police Department arrested him on the same charge in 2020, the news release said. He remains at the White Settlement Jail, police say.
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