Dawson County Courthouse, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
LEXINGTON — A Lexington man charged with motor vehicle homicide after a pedestrian was struck and killed in 2022 has been sentenced.
Arturo Navarrete Jr. had been charged with motor vehicle homicide, a Class 3 felony, and tampering with a witness, a Class 4 felony.
On Friday, Sept. 20, Navarrete pleaded no contest to the motor vehicle homicide charge, while the tampering with a witness charge was dismissed by the state.
A no contest plea is neither an admission nor denial of guilt, but the plea is treated the same as a guilty plea.
On Nov. 22, District Court Judge Patrick Heng sentenced Navarrete to 30 months in prison and was given credit for one day served. He was also sentenced to 12 months of post-release supervision.
According to court documents, at 4:54 a.m. Sept. 24, the Lexington Police Department responded to a vehicle-pedestrian accident near the intersection of Oak and Adams streets.
Initially, Salvador Canales Dubon, 19 at the time, had been charged with motor vehicle homicide, but the charges were dropped after further investigation by the Lexington Police Department.
Officers found Abdelaziz A. Suliman, 59, of Lexington, dead on the west side of Adams St. and a Chevrolet pickup with heavy front-end damage parked south of the body.
A witness told officers she had been driving south on Adams St. at 35 mph, the posted speed limit, or slower.
She said she saw a Chevrolet pickup begin passing her on the right at the same time as she saw a man walking into the street. She said the pickup struck the man and continued southward until it turned west at the first available street.
Officers reviewed surveillance camera footage from a nearby apartment complex. The video showed the witness’s vehicle traveling south on Adams St. and the pickup following behind.
The video shows the pickup beginning to pass the witness’s vehicle, and the audio recorded the pickup accelerating, followed by a loud bang right after the acceleration.
“Based on the video, it appears the Chevy pickup is traveling faster than the posted speed limit and passing a vehicle. The pickup drives into the northbound lane in order to pass the witness vehicle,” according to court documents.
Suliman died at the scene, and an autopsy was scheduled.
Officers contacted Navarrete and Canales. Canales told them at the time, he had been driving the vehicle, which was owned by Navarrete.
Navarrete gave a statement that he had driven the pickup to Canales’ house and Canales drove the pickup after they left his home.
On Sept. 26, Canales’ attorney contacted police, saying he wanted to arrange an interview because he had information to provide.
In an interview Sept. 27, Canales said he was not the driver. He said Navarrete was driving at the time of the collision and had asked Canales to say that he was the driver.
Canales said he lied to the police about who was driving because Navarrete was his friend, and because Navarrete had DUIs and a suspended license.
Canales continued to say he was the driver until he spoke with Dawson County Sheriff’s Correctional Officer Dorian Hurtado. Canales said he told Hurtado he was not the driver because until that point, he hadn’t realized how serious the charges were.
Hurtado later provided a written statement that when Canales was being booked into the jail, he stated that he was not the driver, and that Navarrete was.
The investigation also looked into calls and text messages Canales made from the Dawson County Jail. In a call to his sister, Canales said Navarrete had been driving and “hit the guy.”
However, during a second call to a family member, Canales said he was driving. But when asked about what he told his sister, he said Navarrete was driving but he was taking responsibility because he has a clean record.
On Sept. 28, Navarrete went to the police department and made statements that contradicted his earlier testimony, and he offered inconsistent explanations to questioning, the Lexington Police state.
On Jan. 25, an arrest warrant was issued for Navarrete, and he was booked into the Dawson County Jail.
