The Dallas County Sheriff's Office says a man arrested in February and accused in the crash that killed Arlington Police motorcycle officer Darrin McMichael in September 2023 no longer faces any charges.
The sheriff's office told NBC 5 on Friday that the man they first identified as a suspect in the fatal crash, 26-year-old Joshua Watson, had been released from the Dallas County Jail four days after being arrested and that the arrest warrant implicating him had also been dismissed.
The sheriff's office also said on Friday that investigators identified another man as the suspect in the fatal crash, 22-year-old Ryan Shamar Luckett.
Luckett, the sheriff's office said, is currently in a state prison in Mississippi after violating his parole. The Dallas County Sheriff's Department said they placed a detainer on Luckett pending his release from the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
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Officials with the sheriff's office have not said what led them to develop either Watson or Luckett as suspects in connection with the fatal crash. It's also unclear if Luckett has obtained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
OFFICER KILLED ON THE WAY TO WORK
Arlington Police officials said last year McMichael was riding his police-issued motorcycle to work when he bumped into an SUV in front of him and fell. McMichael was then run over by a vehicle whose driver drove away without stopping.
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McMichael’s wife Linette, an Arlington police officer assigned to the school resource officer unit, was behind her husband in another vehicle and witnessed the crash.
More than $35,000 had been donated as a reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect in this case. It's not yet clear if someone was eligible to claim the reward.
McMichael joined Arlington Police Department in January 1999, and served many roles over his nearly 25 years, including patrol officer and detective.
