A Salem, AR man was arrested on Thursday on manslaughter charges.
According to court documents filed on Friday, on April 28, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a motor vehicle accident involving an injured pedestrian.
Once on scene, authorities observed a victim in a roadside ditch in front of a residence on Hawk Lane in Horseshoe Bend.
Deputies and Emergency Medical Services provided medical aid to the victim, and he was later flown by air ambulance to UAMS in Little Rock.
Deputies spoke with two witnesses that stated the victim and the driver of the suspected vehicle, identified to be 30-year-old Alexander Rouse, were involved in a physical altercation.
Rouse was sitting in the driver’s seat while the victim was standing outside the vehicle.
The altercation took place through the open driver’s door window.
When Rouse accelerated the vehicle, the victim was holding onto the steering wheel.
While the vehicle was moving at a high rate of speed, witnesses stated the vehicle traveled off the roadway into the ditch, struck a mailbox, and two culverts.
Rouse then stopped the vehicle and fled the scene on foot.
Witnesses then stepped outside, found the victim, and called 911.
While processing the scene, law enforcement was told Rouse fled to a residence on Highway 354 after fleeing the accident scene.
Authorities responded to the residence, and Rouse was taken into custody.
Rouse confessed to using methamphetamine 45 minutes before the altercation with the victim, as well as using methamphetamine six times in the 24 hours prior to the incident.
The victim later succumbed to his injuries at UAMS in Little Rock.
Rouse is charged with felony manslaughter, felony leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury or death, and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
His bond was set at $25,000.