Police: Man hits pedestrian, drives 38 miles after body crashes through windshield and into passenger seat

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (KWKT) – A Texas man is facing criminal charges after police say he killed a pedestrian with his car and then drove around with the body in his passenger seat.

Police in the town of White Settlement, located just west of Fort Worth, received a report late on Saturday night of a car with severe damage stopped in a fast food restaurant's parking lot, and the driver slumped over the steering wheel.

When officers arrived, they discovered a body "with no signs of life" in the Kia Forte's front passenger seat, the department wrote on Facebook.

The driver, identified by police as 31-year-old Nestor Joel Lujan Flores, told officers he thought he had hit an animal while driving earlier in Dallas. Detectives believe the impact of the collision drove the pedestrian's body through the windshield and into the car's passenger seat.

They also think the damaged car — and the body — had been sitting in the parking lot for hours before anyone called to report it.

Flores was arrested and booked into the White Settlement Jail, police said. He faces a possible charge of Intoxication Manslaughter, a second-degree felony. The White Settlement Police Department said Flores had previously been charged with Driving While Intoxicated in other Texas counties, with one resulting in a conviction.

Pending charges may be transferred over to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office after the discovery of the possible crash site. According to White Settlement police, investigators in Dallas believe the victim was struck on 1-30 in Dallas based on the discovery of human remains found on the highway that "possibly match" the victim.

The distance between the possible crash site and the restaurant where Flores was found is roughly 38 miles.

Officials in Tarrant and Dallas counties are currently investigating the incident. The identity of the deceased had not been publicly released as of Tuesday.