LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Louisville Metro Police announced on Monday morning, November 2, that they have arrested the man they allege was driving the vehicle that struck and killed a woman in the Taylor Berry neighbourhood early on Sunday and then fled the scene twice. Anthony Billingslea, 39, of Louisville, was arrested just after midnight on Monday and, according to court documents reported by WDRB and WAVE, faces more than a dozen charges — led by vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. WHAS11, Louisville's ABC affiliate, independently reported the same arrest and the same leading charges on Monday.

Source: WDRB/WAVE, Louisville

Police say the fatal sequence began at about 4:40 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, when Louisville Metro police officers were called to the 2700 block of 7th Street Road, in the Taylor Berry neighbourhood of south Louisville, on a report that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle. Based on their initial investigation and a witness statement, investigators believe the woman was struck as she stepped into the roadway. She was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical services. Court documents identify the woman who died as Carolyn Lindsey. No age for Ms Lindsey had been released in the reports reviewed for this story.

The vehicle that hit her never stopped, police said. Investigators allege that Billingslea drove off southbound on 7th Street Road at, in the police account, “a high rate of speed,” and that farther down the same road his vehicle rear-ended another vehicle carrying three people, causing more than $1,000 in damage — and again did not stop. The occupants of that second vehicle reported no injuries in the first day's reporting. Police say Billingslea then abandoned the vehicle at an apartment complex and ran away on foot, which is why the charge list includes counts tied both to the fatal crash and to the second collision.

The charges, as listed in court documents

According to the court documents cited by WDRB and WAVE, Billingslea was arrested just after 12 a.m. on Monday, November 2, on charges of: vehicular homicide; operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol (DUI); three counts of wanton endangerment; two counts of leaving the scene of an accident without rendering aid or assistance; two counts of failure to report a traffic accident; two counts of tampering with physical evidence; criminal mischief; and failure to wear a seat belt. That is thirteen named charges in total. The tampering and failure-to-report counts, as listed, relate to what police allege happened after the collisions, and the wanton-endangerment counts correspond to the danger police say was created for other road users, including the three people in the vehicle that was rear-ended.

A key part of the police case, as reported, is a witness who told investigators they were with Billingslea throughout the night and saw him “actively consuming alcohol.” The witness told police Billingslea was “highly intoxicated all throughout the night.” Those are statements attributed to a witness in police and court reporting — they are allegations recorded by investigators, not findings of a court, and Billingslea has not been convicted of anything in this case. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and the reports reviewed did not include any statement from Billingslea or from a lawyer speaking for him.

Neighbours: police were already on the street, and speeding is a standing complaint

One detail underlines how sudden the fatal moment was. A resident who lives near the scene and asked not to be named told WDRB and WAVE that police were already nearby before the crash, because he had called to complain about people parked illegally near his home for a party. He said he believes the victim may have been leaving that party when she was hit, and described a car coming by at what he estimated was “like 70 or 80 miles per hour.” That speed figure is one witness's estimate, not a police measurement, and investigators have not released a calculated speed. Residents of Taylor Berry told reporters on Sunday that speeding is a recurring problem on this stretch of 7th Street Road, a busy south-Louisville corridor that carries local traffic past homes, shops and apartment complexes at all hours.

Background: why hit-and-run and DUI charges stack up in Kentucky

Kentucky law requires a driver involved in an accident to stop, identify themselves and render reasonable assistance, and leaving the scene of an accident in which someone is killed is treated as a serious felony-level offence — which is why a single night's driving can produce a long charge sheet: one set of counts for the driving itself and the death, another for leaving, another for failing to report, and further counts where police allege evidence was tampered with or other people were endangered. Louisville, in Jefferson County on the Ohio River, is Kentucky's largest city and one of America's biggest inland logistics hubs — the Interstate 65 corridor and the region's warehousing and freight economy mean heavy vehicle traffic mixes with residential streets like 7th Street Road around the clock, including for the many Punjabi and other South Asian truck drivers and warehouse workers who live and work in the Louisville area. Police have not suggested any connection between this crash and commercial trucking; the vehicle involved was a private vehicle, on the reported facts.

What happens next

Billingslea was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday morning, November 2, in Louisville, the first court step at which the charges are formally presented and bail and future hearing dates are addressed; neither a bond figure nor a plea had been reported by the time of publication. The Louisville Metro Police Department's investigation remains open, and detectives have asked anyone with information about the Sunday-morning crash to call the department's anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD (502-574-5673) or use its online crime-tip portal. Awaaz Punjab will follow the court record — the arraignment outcome, any bond decision, and the coroner's formal identification process for Carolyn Lindsey — and update readers as the case moves through the Jefferson County courts.