Man unknowingly drives off with body in truck bed after hit-and-run, Arkansas cops say

An Arkansas man accused of fatally hitting a cyclist with his pickup truck unknowingly left the scene with the victim in tow, Fort Smith police told news outlets.

James Ray Jones, 42, struck the cyclist along Grand Avenue around 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, according to a news release.

Police said they began investigating the following morning when a “human body part was discovered near the roadway.”

The grisly find was part of a leg belonging to the victim, later identified as 57-year-old Christopher West, KHBS reported.

Investigators pored over surveillance video in the area, the release said. It showed a pickup truck slam into a man riding a bicycle in the westbound lane.

Police narrowed the search and went to Jones’ address, where they found the pickup and West’s body lying in the back of it, the release said.

Jones told police he hadn’t noticed West’s body was in his truck, KFSM reported.

Investigators say West landed in the bed right after he was hit, propelled by the force of the impact, outlets reported.

“He loved riding his bicycle,” West’s son-in law, Stuart Wood, told KHBS. “He was a really good man. If he saw anybody needing help he would stop and help them.”

Jones was taken into custody Feb. 19, according to police.

He provided a “full confession” and was arrested on charges of manslaughter and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, police said, and was booked into the Sebastian County Jail.

This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Man unknowingly drives off with body in truck bed after hit-and-run, Arkansas cops say."