The driver in a hit-and-run accident that caused a mile-long grass fire on Interstate 540 in Fort Smith Thursday evening faces charges.
Jerry Bartlett Rogers, 29, of Barling, was driving a white van that was part of a three-car accident at Waldron and Grand Avenue, according to Sgt. Daniel Grubbs with Fort Smith Police.
Sgt. Grubbs says a driver left the scene of the accident and headed south on I-540.
Sgt. Grubbs says all four tires on the van were shredded and it was driving on the rims close to the shoulder of the interstate which may have sparked the grass fires. Several homes and an apartment complex are nearby on the stretch of I-540 which runs between Grand and Rogers Avenue. Crews quickly put out the fires.
Rogers was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Sgt. Grubbs says he will be taken into police custody and faces several charges including reckless driving and fleeing the scene of an accident.
Two other people involved were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
