'Drunk driver' found with dead body in car told cops he thought he hit a deer

19 December 2023 , 02:04

873     0

Nestor Lujan Flores, 31, faces intoxication and manslaughter charges (Image: White Settlement Police Dept.)

Officers made a grim discovery after a dead body was found inside the passenger seat of a car that had crashed, before the driver claimed he had hit a deer.

Dallas authorities reprimanded 31-year-old Nestor Lujan Flores of Arlington, who they say was driving intoxicated. "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 and, in all my 28 years, I have never really worked a case like this," White Settlement Chief of Police Christopher Cook said at the press conference.

The events of the night of December 16 are still unclear, but police said they were now putting the pieces together. A concerned citizen called police at around 11:00 p.m to report a driver who appeared to be intoxicated as he was slumped over his steering wheel in the parking lot of a local Jack in the Box restaurant.

READ MORE: Baby boy left orphaned after mum and dad killed in crash by 'drunk driver'

Authorities said the impact was so severe the victim was missing body parts (White Settlement Police Dept.)

That caller also noted the extensive damage to Flores' front hood and windshield. Police were shocked when they arrived to the scene as Flores was found next to another person who was later pronounced dead by EMS. Flores told responding officers he was sure he'd hit a deer somewhere in Dallas. However, he was found about 32 miles east in Fort Worth at 8:00 p.m and no 911 call was made to report the accident.

Drink-driver steals JCB digger to smash into family house in revenge attack

Police said Flores hit the pedestrian in Dallas before traveling more than 30 miles to Fort Worth (White Settlement Police Dept.)

Detectives said the evidence suggests Flores rammed a pedestrian with his car somewhere between Arlington and White settlement, adding that the impact was so severe the victim was thrown inside the driver's Kia Forte. Chief Cook said there was "significant trauma to the body," including the victim was missing some body parts.

"This scene was really hard for our fire teams, our police teams, our MedStar teams to even work a case like this," he shared. "What the frustration is for our teams is that [this] is avoidable," Cook continued. "People do not need to get behind the wheel. We talk about it all the time—make good decisions. There's rideshare services, there's friends, there's just other things you can do besides getting behind the wheel."

Flores faces charges of intoxication, manslaughter and potentially failure to stop and render aid. The motorist had a prior arrest in 2020 for a DWI, which he was convicted of in 2021. The White Settlement Police Department, with assistance from the Dallas County Sheriff's office, is working to figure out where Flores was drinking between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m and whether he was over-served.

The agency reached out to departments of surrounding areas in an attempt to piece together the timeline. The investigation has led Chief Cook and his team to I-30 and Cockrell Hill, where there have been reports of body parts in the roadway.

Mataeo Smith