Arizona DPS: Driver arrested months after fatal hit-and-run when passenger fell from truck bed, died

PHOENIX — A 52-year-old Arizona man has been arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident that killed a passenger who fell from his pickup truck last fall, authorities said Monday.

Jack Crawford was taken into custody March 9 on charges of failure to stop at the scene of an accident involving death, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

The victim, Michael Stewart, 37, was riding in the bed of a pickup truck driven by Crawford on Sept. 7, 2025, when he fell from the vehicle near State Route 77 and Golder Ranch Road in Catalina, investigators said.

Stewart was later discovered in the roadway by passing motorists with fatal injuries.

Crawford did not stop to render aid and never reported the incident to law enforcement, according to a DPS.

Detectives with the agency’s Vehicular Crimes Unit conducted a monthslong investigation that led them to Crawford in Patagonia, where he was arrested without incident.

“This arrest reflects the persistence of our VCU detectives, whose thorough investigative efforts help provide answers for families and pursue accountability for those responsible for criminal activity,” the department said in a statement.

Crawford is a Patagonia resident, which is 170 Southeast of Phoenix. He has not yet been indicted.

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