An Indiana police officer on Saturday made a gruesome discovery when he pulled a driver over for speeding: body parts of a man hanging over the truck's tailgate.
"In speaking with [the officer who made the traffic stop], he believed it to be a Halloween prank at the time, with the legs hanging off the back," said Lake Station Police Chief Mike Stills.
But it wasn't a joke.
Smoke was coming from the truck, the windshield was shattered and the suspect had glass on his arms and chest, police said in their report.
The driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old William Cecil Albrecht Jr., of Hobart, Ind., admitted to officers he drank about a case of beer earlier in the evening and had hit a person.
Officers found the torso of a man, later identified as 52-year-old Paul Williams, of Lake Station, Ind., in the bed of Albrecht's Chevy S-10. William's lower legs, his shoes and vehicle debris were found farther down Old Hobart Road, south of Interstate 80/94.
Another case of beer was also found in the truck's cab, court records say.
Albrecht is charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death and failure to stop after an accident resulting in death, both Class C felonies. He also faces Class A and C misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
His blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent, police said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He also tested positive for benzodiazepines and cannabinoids, according to the court documents.
Albrecht faces charges for drinking and driving, causing death, and failure to stop after an accident resulting in death.
"It's really sad. I'm going to go to the funeral, whenever it is," said Thomas Carrol, who also lives in the Lake Park Residential Facility where Williams resided.
