Suspect arrested in fatal hit-and-run

PROULX

A Decatur man was arrested Tuesday in connection to the death of a motorcyclist in a suspected road rage hit-and-run wreck earlier this month.

James Paul Proulx, 40, was arrested around 8 a.m. Tuesdayat the Wise County Sheriff’s Office after turning himself in. He was booked into the Wise County Jail on second-degree felony charges of manslaughter and accident involving personal injury or death.

Proulx’s bond was set at $100,000 per charge by 271st District Judge Brock Smith.

“Cases like this thankfully don’t come around very often,” Rhome Police Chief Eric Debus said. “When a man’s life is taken certainly without cause or justification and a family is devastated, law enforcement feels the weight of that in our hearts. It brings a degree of satisfaction that we were able to bring the investigation to this juncture, and hopefully work toward bringing justice to the Newton family.”

Proulx was reportedly driving a newer model Ford four-door truck pulling a black gooseneck trailer when he allegedly struck a 2014 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Jerry Wayne Newton, 55 of Decatur, at about 7:30 a.m. March 10 on U.S. 81/287 south between Pioneer Road and Farm Road 407 in Rhome.

Newton was transported by Wise County EMS to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, and was pronounced dead at 8:20 a.m.

Proulx allegedly fled the scene and was spotted by surveillance cameras at Aurora Baptist Church traveling down Derting Road shortly after the wreck. Photos and video were released by Rhome Police Department last week.

“We initially had grainy video that led us in the direction to certain vehicles that we thought were related,” Debus said. “Coincidentally, we were able to get additional video from Aurora Baptist Church from the camera system that Jerry Newton installed, which helped us to identify the suspect in this case and shore up the probable cause to make the arrest.”

The Rhome Police Department and Wise County Sheriff’s Office were assisted in the investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers.

Despite the arrest, Debus said the investigation is ongoing.

“Our work isn’t through,” he said. “We don’t stop because an arrest was made. We want to continue to compile the evidence, and then we’ll work with the Wise County District Attorney’s Office and move forward with the prosecution of the case.”