Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Man pleads in Springdale fatal hit-and-run
FAYETTEVILLE — A Batesville man pleaded guilty Wednesday to fleeing from an accident in Springdale last year that killed a 62-year-old pedestrian.
Eulogio Martinez-Pacheco, 25, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with evidence.
Martinez-Pacheco was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to six years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with one year suspended.
The hitand-run accident happened
Nov. 3, 2016, on
North Thompson Street at West Bailey Avenue.
Police said Martinez-Pacheco left the scene in a Dodge Neon after hitting Cruz Gonzales of Springdale.
Springdale police detectives went to Independence County after an anonymous tip that Martinez-Pacheco lived in the area.
Police found Martinez-Pacheco at his workplace in Floral, a town about 24 miles south of Batesville, and questioned him at the Independence County Sheriff’s Office.
He admitted during questioning he saw the victim run out in front of him as he drove on Thompson Street, police said.
Martinez-Pacheco said he fled the scene and dismantled the vehicle at a home where he was staying in Springdale.
Vehicle parts were taken to a scrap metal yard in Batesville, he said.