A man faces criminal charges after police say he struck and killed a pedestrian in Dallas and then drove about 40 miles to a White Settlement fast-food restaurant with the victim's body in the passenger seat. He is being detained.
White Neighborhood Police say they responded to the restaurant around 11:15 p.m. Saturday after a customer reported a vehicle in the parking lot with extensive damage and the driver slumped over the steering wheel. A report was received in the parking lot. Officers arrived a short time later and noticed there was also a lifeless person in the passenger seat.
Police said officers asked the driver, Nestor Luján Flores, 31, to get out of the car and called fire and medical personnel, who confirmed the passenger was dead.
According to an arrest warrant issued Monday night, Jack in the Box employees told Flores police that they “entered the restaurant to get a cell phone charger. There was blood on their shirts and hands. “I realized that it was happening,” he reportedly said.
Police say the impact was so severe that detectives say the 45-year-old pedestrian was thrown into a vehicle as he crossed the crosswalk near Cockrell Hill Road and Interstate 30 in west Dallas. He said he thought that. Police said the leg was recovered from the scene. The rest of the body was found on the passenger side of Lujan's car in White Settlement, police said.
Investigators say Flores, who had a badly damaged hood and a large jam in the windshield, drove into Jack's car between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. at least two hours before the customer called police. He said he drove 38 miles before stopping in the In the Box parking lot.
“As he sat him in the back seat of the car, the officer commented that the back seat of the patrol car smelled like a brewery,” said Christopher Cook, chief of white neighborhoods police.
Flores told police he was waiting for his brother to arrive and give him a ride, according to the warrant.
Chief Cook told reporters Sunday that Flores never called 911 to report the crash. Cook added that in his 28 years of law enforcement, he has never seen an incident like this.
“It's very unfortunate that he didn't realize that it's human beings to stop and give aid and ask for help,” Cook said. “If you collide with a pedestrian on the roadway and you have a level of impairment that makes you think it’s an animal, that’s a significant impairment.”
Investigators were initially unsure where the crash occurred, but on Sunday the Dallas County Sheriff's Office reported that White Settlement was on the westbound side of Interstate 30 near Cockrell Hill Road. Police reported that a collision had occurred and human remains were found near the road.
Because the accident is believed to have occurred in Dallas, the investigation has been turned over to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.
The coroner's office will work to confirm a match between evidence found on the road and the body found inside the vehicle. Meanwhile, Flores' car was seized and turned over to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department as evidence. A blood test warrant has also been obtained and test results are pending.
Flores is expected to face charges including manslaughter while intoxicated and failure to stop and provide aid. He was previously arrested and convicted of drunk driving in Plano.
As of Monday evening, Flores was awaiting transfer to the Dallas County Jail. His family said Monday night that they are looking for an attorney to represent Flores, but had no further comment.
Flores was arrested for drunk driving in Plano in 2020 and sentenced in 2021.
On October 26, 2001, nursing assistant Chante Mallard was driving home when she hit Gregory Glenn Biggs, a homeless man. Mallard drove home, parked in his garage and left the man trapped in the windshield to die. His body was later dumped in a park. The coroner testified at her murder trial that if she had taken Biggs to the hospital, he likely would have survived his injuries. Mallard, 47, is currently serving a 50-year sentence for murder and tampering with evidence and will be eligible for parole on March 4, 2027.
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