Police: Driver in fatal North Little Rock bridge crash had been released from prison day before

North Little Rock Police check a pickup that was traveling the wrong direction on the Main Street Bridge when it hit a bicyclist Wednesday afternoon on the Main Street Bridge. The bicyclist and the pickup driver were both killed.
North Little Rock Police check a pickup that was traveling the wrong direction on the Main Street Bridge when it hit a bicyclist Wednesday afternoon on the Main Street Bridge. The bicyclist and the pickup driver were both killed.

North Little Rock police said a man released from prison Tuesday was driving a stolen pickup when he struck and killed a bicyclist Wednesday on the Main Street bridge.

Police said John Fitzgerald Blanks, 53, drove a Ford F-150 the wrong way onto the northbound side of the bridge about 2:30 p.m. and struck Ricky Anderson, 52, of North Little Rock, as Anderson was riding a bicycle north. Blanks was thrown from the pickup when it crashed into a concrete barrier on the bridge.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. The bridge was closed for several hours while police investigated.

Blanks was reportedly fleeing a collision with another motorist when he drove onto the bridge at a high rate of speed and struck Anderson.

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Photos by Brandon Riddle

Police reported late Thursday that the pickup Blanks was driving had been stolen in Star City. Department spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said Blanks, a felon, had been released from the Arkansas Department of Correction's Cummins Unit in Gould the day before the crash.

[FATAL WRECKS: Complete coverage of deadly crashes in Arkansas]

Dedrick said investigators believe Blanks stole the pickup and traveled to the area because he has family in Little Rock.

Court records show Blanks had a criminal history going back to 1996. He was convicted of robbery in June 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison.

Details on his release from prison were not immediately available Thursday.

Metro on 03/17/2017

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