Hit-And-Run Driver Gave Cops Ice Cream Alibi

JULY 3--An Arkansas driver told cops that she fled the scene of an accident Sunday night because she was concerned that, if she stopped, ice cream she was carrying home would melt, according to police.

Flora Burkhart, 58, was heading to her residence around 6 PM when she rear-ended a pickup truck driven by Derek Parker. Burkhart, however, did not stop at the site of the crash on a state highway in Van Buren, a city in the Ozark Mountain foothills.

Parker called 911 and decided to follow the hit-and-run driver to her home, where she was subsequently confronted by Van Buren Police Department officers. 

Asked why she left the accident scene, Burkhart replied, “I left because I did not want my ice cream to melt," according to a police report. Burkhart also claimed that she “didn’t think there was enough damage to the vehicles to call police.” Cops estimated that each car sustained $500 in damages.

Cops disagreed and cited her for leaving the scene of an accident and driving too closely to Parker’s vehicle.

It is unclear what condition Burkhart’s ice cream was in following the accident. But the frozen delight was likely under duress since steamy Van Buren’s temperature topped out Sunday at a broiling 100 degrees. (2 pages)