Police in Northwest Arkansas say they have arrested a man in a fatal hit-and-run, months after the pedestrian crash left a 62-year-old dead.
Eulogio Martinez-Pacheco, 25, of Batesville faces charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, tampering with evidence and not having a driver’s license.
The Springdale Police Department responded to a pedestrian wreck Nov. 3, 2016, on Thompson Street at Bailey Avenue.
Authorities said the driver, Martinez-Pacheco, fled the scene in a 2000s Dodge Neon after hitting a pedestrian on the road. Cruz Gonzales of Springdale was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a preliminary report, the Springdale Police Department said detectives Friday traveled to Independence County based on an anonymous tip that Martinez-Pacheco lived in the area.
Once found at it his workplace in Floral, a town about 24 miles south of Batesville, Martinez-Pacheco was questioned by authorities at the Independence County sheriff’s office.
Martinez-Pacheco admitted during questioning to seeing the victim run out in front of him as he traveled on Thompson Street.
After fleeing the scene, Martinez-Pacheco said that he dismantled the vehicle at a home he was staying at in Springdale. Vehicle parts were then taken to a scrap metal yard in Batesville, he said.
Martinez-Pacheco was booked into the Washington County jail around 3:40 a.m. Saturday and released hours later on $10,000 bond, records show.
