Aaron Richard and the white Chevrolet pickup truck deputies say was covered in dried blood (Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office)
Law enforcement authorities in Texas are attempting to unravel a bizarre mystery involving an 18-year-old man found in a beat up old pickup truck where deputies found “large amount of dried blood” on both the driver and the vehicle. Aaron Richard was taken into custody early Monday and charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a news release from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 1:55 a.m. on June 24 responded to a “major accident” on FM 2871 near Interstate 20. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they made contact with an 18-year-old male — later identified as Richard — in an old white pickup truck. The deputies said they then noticed “a large amount of dried blood on the pickup and the suspect.”
“The driver was uncooperative when asked about the source of the blood,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the release.
Authorities provided multiple photographs and a description of the vehicle being driven by Richard, which they identified as a 1997 white single cab Chevrolet pickup truck with Texas license plates reading DFH2650.
“There is noticeable damage to the driver’s side door, the tailgate, and front left quarter panel,” the release states. “A traffic cone was found in the bed of the pickup. There is a large amount of blood along the driver’s side A-frame, as well as the outside of the bed.”
The back window of the vehicle also had white writing on it. Based on the photographs provided by the sheriff’s office, the writing appears to say “SNAP,” followed by “CalebR” and “Young12.” Also of note, in the photo posted by the sheriff’s office following the arrest, Aaron Richard is wearing a Walmart Auto Care Center uniform with a name tag reading “Anthony.”
The sheriff’s office did not state whether Richard was suspected of harming another person or if investigators believed anyone was in danger.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the blood on Richard and the vehicle he was driving appears unrelated to the accident to which deputies initially responded.
The Star-Telegram reported that despite posting $500 bond on the driving while intoxicated charge, Richard remained in detention at the Lon Evans Corrections Center as of Monday afternoon. Jail records show he was still incarcerated as of Tuesday morning.
At the time of Richard’s arrest, he was in the midst of serving six months of probation stemming from a disorderly conduct conviction. That probation was set to end in July.
Authorities are asking anyone with information relevant to the case to contact the sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division at 817-884-1305.
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