White Settlement police are working with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office on the investigation of a fatal crash in which they say the driver continued more than 35 miles with the victim in his car.
Nestor Flores, 31, was arrested in White Settlement on Saturday night when someone called 911 and said he was asleep in the car.
"There was a guy in the car, it looked like he's been in a car wreck, and he's just slumped over in the seat," the caller said. "I just wanted to make sure he's OK."
The caller said the driver was in the parking lot of the Jack in the Box near Interstate 30 and Las Vegas Trail. When police arrived, they found the car with damage to the hood, roof, and windshield. As they looked at the damage, they found a person dead in the passenger seat.
They issued an alert to other agencies, and the Dallas County Sheriff's Office responded that the crash may have occurred at I-30 and Cockrell Hill. Police said Flores was passed out inside the car in White Settlement and later told them he thought he had hit a deer.
"You're so impaired, you strike a pedestrian on a service road and don't even realize it's a human being," White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook said. "I can't fathom the level of impairment for him to travel some 38 miles. The car basically gave out is how he ended up in our community."
Flores was arrested in White Settlement and charged with intoxication manslaughter.
"Once we placed him in the back seat of our car, the officer commented it smelled like a brewery in the back seat of his patrol car," Cook said.
Blood results are pending, and the Dallas County district attorney will lead the prosecution.
Flores has at least one other drunk driving arrest. He pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in Collin County in 2020.
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