New information regarding a fatal accident allegedly caused by former Bachelor star Chris Soules reveal that he did make some attempt to help the victim, who was pronounced dead shortly after the accident, before fleeing the scene and refusing to cooperate with police.
As Crime Online previously reported, Soules was arrested late Monday night, hours after he allegedly rear-ended a tractor with his Chevy truck hours earlier in his hometown of Arlington, Iowa. According to USA Today, he has since been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly accident, a felony that could carry a prison sentence of up to five years.
TMZ obtained a recording of the 911 call Soules made right after the crash, in which he sounds agitated but clear and coherent. In the call, he admits that he rear-ended a tractor and tells the dispatcher that the tractor driver is injured. Soules also seems to check the pulse of the victim and says he can hear it.
TMZ also reported that sometime after Soules made the 911 call, he walked away from the scene and called an unknown person to come pick him up and take him home. Eyewitnesses who saw Soules leave the scene of the accident reportedly identified him to police, who went to his home — but Soules refused to come to the door. According to TMZ, it took the cops “hours” to furnish a warrant.
Police arrested Soules after returning to the home with a warrant, but too much time may have passed to determine if the reality star had been drinking at the time of the accident. Sources told TMZ that Soules submitted to a blood test, but also said that the test may not be effective, given the time lapse.
Police reportedly found alcohol containers in Soules’s car, but it is not known if they had been opened.
As Crime Online previously reported, Soules has three previous alcohol-related arrests, most recently in 2005, when he served 60 days in jail and one year of probation for driving under the influence.
Sources told TMZ that it was possible the tractor did not have lights on at the time of the accident, which is believed to have happened around dusk.
Photo: Buchanan Sheriff’s Department
