SEDGWICK COUNTY—A man accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and fire will make a court appearance Tuesday afternoon. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for 43-year-old Russell W. Polk, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.
Just after 11:30p.m. on March 31, 2020, 911 dispatch was notified about a vehicle on fire, at approximately 7500 W. 101st Street North, according to Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter.
Sheriff's deputies arrived along with the Sedgwick County Fire Department and observed a Dodge truck on its side fully engulfed in flames. After the fire was extinguished, first responders located the body of a woman in the pickup. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The preliminary investigation into the accident indicated the truck was originally southbound on Ridge Road. It entered the field on the west side of Ridge, struck the ditch on 101st Street North and the driver lost control. The truck rolled into the south ditch.
The following day, deputies arrested Polk and booked him in the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility for 2nd Degree Murder, according to Easter. Authorities believe Polk was driving at the time of the crash and that the victim was still alive when Polk fled the scene.
Polk remains jailed on a bond of $100,000, according to online jail records. He has numerous DUI and related driving convictions along with a conviction for criminal threat, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.