Collins man is jailed in hit-run fatality on I-20

Published 12:01 pm Thursday, March 17, 2011

A Collins driver accused of fatally striking a pedestrian near Interstate 20 early Sunday was in the Warren County Jail this morning, charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

The felony charge against Roger Dale Curtis, 26, 201 S. Second St., was filed Wednesday afternoon when the suspect was brought to Warren County after he was arrested at his workplace, a golf course in Collins, said Investigator Bryan Richardson of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.

Curtis is accused of hitting Dudley Shane Scrimpshire, 42, of Moselle with his 1988 Chevrolet pickup and driving away, Richardson said.

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Scrimpshire, who was spotted on the side of the highway at about 7:20 Sunday morning by a driver on the westbound exit from Bovina, was taken to River Region Medical Center and later transferred to University Medical Center in Jackson, where he died from head and body trauma late Monday afternoon.

Scrimpshire, whose car was broken down off the interstate near the exit ramp, was believed to be walking on the shoulder of the highway to get repair help when he was hit, investigators have said.

Curtis, whom Richardson said was arrested after an anonymous tip, told officials he was aware he hit something on the highway but did not know what.

If convicted of the felony charge, Curtis could serve five to 20 years, Richardson said.

Curtis was being held without bond pending an initial hearing in Warren County Justice Court.