PHOENIX (AP) - A 29-year-old man arrested in two hit-and-run fatalities that occurred minutes apart later said he fell asleep at the wheel because he was on painkillers and then fled after the wrecks because his license was suspended, Phoenix police said Tuesday.
Police said L.C. Jones III of Mesa was arrested Monday on suspicion of second-degree murder, manslaughter, hit-and-run and endangerment stemming from the wrecks Saturday night that killed 17-year old Nester Lopez and 28-year-old Edgar Ferral-Lopez, both of Phoenix.
Jones remained jailed Tuesday and did not yet have a defense attorney who could comment on his behalf about the allegations.
Police said Lopez was struck as he stood in a two-way left-turn lane while waiting to finish crossing a street mid-block and that Ferral-Lopez was fatally injured a few blocks away later in a collision at an intersection when Jones’ car ran a red light.
After colliding with Jones’ car, the car driven by Ferral-Lopez then struck a pickup whose two occupants weren’t injured.
Witnesses saw Jones then abandon his car and run from the scene, and police found blood on the route taken by the fleeing man, police said.
Police located Jones on Monday after he went to a hospital where he made admissions to hospital staff about falling asleep at the wheel and killing two people, a police probable-cause statement said. It didn’t provide details on Jones’ treatment or injuries.
The statement said Jones also acknowledged to investigators that he was involved in both wrecks and said he kept driving after his vehicle struck Lopez and fled on foot after the second because his license was suspended and because he was scared “and freaked out.”
Jones told investigators he fell asleep while driving because he took (an) unknown type of pain pills earlier,” the statement said.
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