Passenger alive when driver fled the scene, sheriff says

The passenger who died in a Tuesday night wreck northwest of Valley Center was still alive when the driver fled the scene, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The victim was found after the flames on the truck were extinguished.

“We have the evidence to suggest that the victim was still alive after the accident and the individual who was driving fled the scene of an injury accident which turned into a fatality,” Sheriff Jeff Easter said, adding that officers are waiting for an autopsy to make a final determination to the cause of death.

The name of the victim won’t be released until a positive identification is made and family is notified, Easter said. Russeller Wade Polk, 43, was arrested Wednesday at his home in north Wichita on suspicion of second-degree murder, failing to report an accident and on a state warrant, records show.

First responders were called at 11:38 p.m. Tuesday to a site near 101st North and Ridge, northwest of Valley Center. They found a Dodge truck on its side and engulfed in flames.

Easter said officers believe Polk and the victim recently met each other. The truck belonged to a relative of Polk’s, Easter said.

It appeared the driver of the truck was headed south on Ridge, left the road to the west and hit the ditch at 101st Street, Lt. Tim Myers said. After the driver lost control, the vehicle rolled, he said.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 8:41 PM.