Baxter County deputies arrested a man who is accused of hitting and killing a woman while driving drunk then leaving her to die instead of calling for help, the sheriff said Thursday.
Authorities responded at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday to a report that a woman was injured and trapped under a vehicle outside her home at 8649 Highway 14 in Big Flat, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Police found 26-year-old Brandy Honeycutt dead at the scene when they arrived, Sheriff John Montgomery said.
One witness, Michael Scott Haddock, 26, of Southaven, Miss., said he was helping Honeycutt change a flat tire when the jack slipped, pinning her underneath the vehicle, according to the release.
A second witness, however, gave conflicting testimony, and when the vehicle was lifted to remove Honeycutt's body, all four tires were fully inflated, the sheriff said.
Haddock later told police that he had consumed a significant amount of whiskey and had hit Honeycutt while driving. Instead of calling 911, he walked to his relative's house 1 mile away to tell him about the accident, according to the news release.
Montgomery said that first responders weren't called until other people in the area saw what happened and woke the victim's husband.
It was not clear how much time elapsed between the time of the accident and the time Honeycutt's husband called 911.
Haddock was charged with negligent homicide and taken to the Baxter County jail, where he is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.