Man drives 38 miles with legless body of hit-and-run victim in passenger seat: cops

A drunk Texas driver was found passed out in his car with the legless body of a man sitting in the passenger seat — believed to be a pedestrian he struck in a bizarre case of hit-and-run, police said.

Nestor Luján Flores, 31, was discovered about 11:15 p.m. Saturday in a Jack in the Box parking lot in White Settlement while slumped over the steering wheel of a car with a gaping hole in the windshield, NBC DFW reported.

Police also discovered a dead passenger whom police described as a 45-year-old homeless man who was known to stay near I-30 in Cockrell Road in Dallas County, where officers found a man’s legs.

Flores allegedly drove 38 miles before stopping at the Jack in the Box between 8 and 9 p.m.

Workers at the eatery told police Flores “had come into the restaurant asking for a phone charger.”

“They noticed he had blood on his shirt and hands,” according to an arrest warrant cited by the station.

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But it was not until two hours later that police were contacted about him.

“I’m at the Jack in the Box. I just came through in the drive-thru and there was a guy in the car. It looks like he’s been in a car wreck,” a woman was heard saying in a 911 call cited by CBS News.

“He’s just slumped over in the seat and I just wanted to make sure he’s OK,” she added.

Investigators believe he drove from his home in Arlington to the Dallas area around 6 p.m. and that the accident happened in Dallas County about two hours later.

White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook told reporters that Flores never called 911 to report the accident.

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“It’s very unfortunate that he did not realize that this was a human being to stop and render aid, and call for help,” he 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.”

The chief added: “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.”

Flores told police he thought he’d hit a deer and was waiting for his brother to arrive to give him a ride, CBS News reported.

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While police await the results of a blood-alcohol test, Flores has been arrested on a pending charge of intoxication manslaughter.

“The department is still attempting to determine the exact location of the crash and offense. The deceased and cause of death will be identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office once next of kin have been identified,” police said.

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In 2020, Flores was convicted of drunk driving after Plano police pulled him over for speeding on the Dallas North Tollway, CBS News reported.

He admitted at the time to drinking four glasses of wine.