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Driver admits to killing cyclist and hiding body in truck, leaving severed leg at the scene

Police in Fort Smith, Arkansas, arrested the motorist after the victim’s leg was found at the scene of the collision

A driver has been charged with manslaughter following a hit-and-run incident involving a cyclist in Arkansas, during which the motorist hid the victim in his truck, minus a severed leg that was found at the scene, before driving off.

According to police in Fort Smith, which is near the border with Oklahoma, James Ray Jones was arrested after surveillance footage showed him fleeing the scene of the collision at 8pm last Friday night.

Early on Saturday morning, police received reports of a body part found in the road where the crash occurred, and later confirmed that it belonged to 57-year-old cyclist Christopher West. West’s body was reportedly later found inside Jones’ truck.

Roads were closed in Fort Smith for several hours as the police investigated the area.

> Cyclist seriously injured by hit-and-run lorry driver was riding 3,000 miles in memory of niece

Using the footage of the incident, police were able to track down Jones, who was taken into custody on Saturday, where he confessed during the police interview to striking the cyclist with his pickup truck. Jones reportedly said that he ‘panicked’ following the collision.

Fort Smith Police Department said that the truck driver was charged with manslaughter and for leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. He is reportedly being held on a $50,000 (£36,898) bond in Sebastian County Jail.

A local resident told KFSM 5News that this isn’t the first time that a cyclist has been struck in the area and blamed the lack of lighting in Fort Smith for the collisions.

“I don't want to see anybody get hurt, certainly not see anybody get killed,” she said.

“And part of the problem is that it gets very dark in this neighbourhood on Grand and on certain intersections.”

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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4 comments

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brooksby | 2 years ago
7 likes

Quote:

A local resident told KFSM 5News that this isn’t the first time that a cyclist has been struck in the area and blamed the lack of lighting in Fort Smith for the collisions.

“I don't want to see anybody get hurt, certainly not see anybody get killed,” she said.

“And part of the problem is that it gets very dark in this neighbourhood on Grand and on certain intersections.”

Absolutely none of which is relevant to the whole "putting the body in the back of your truck, but forgetting to count the number of legs" thing... 

Avatar
Captain Badger | 2 years ago
7 likes

Deepest condolences to the friends and family of Christopher West

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Christopher TR1 | 2 years ago
5 likes

Speechless.... new depths..... motorists!

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Seagull2 replied to Christopher TR1 | 2 years ago
3 likes

I would instead say " humans" , what , if anything, are we not capable of ?  there was case in rural  Ireland quite a few years ago of hit and run , motorist vs cyclist , cyclist killed,  motorist had been drinking for many hours pre-incident, motorist eventually traced  ( cctv evidence initally , plus police-work ) and charged and convicted , vehicle never found , word on the street is that the vehicle is buried somewhere remote !   Humans, eh ? 

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