Suspect Charged After Fatal 2021 Hit-And-Run In Downtown Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa County man is charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries in connection to a fatal hit-and-run that resulted in the death of a pedestrian in downtown Tuscaloosa last year.

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TPD said Friday evening that members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force took Charles Bruce Bell, 62, into custody in Mississippi Thursday, before transporting him to the Tuscaloosa County Jail Friday afternoon. He remains in the jail as of the publication of this story, with his bond set at $20,000.

Bell stands accused of striking 39-year-old Jake Peter Seames with his vehicle at 10:22 p.m. on April 8, 2021.

Witnesses told investigators that Seames was walking toward University Boulevard on 23rd Avenue when he was struck by a van at the Fourth Street intersection.

Seames would die from his injuries a little less than a month later on May 2, resulting in the hit-and-run case being presented to the grand jury after his death.

Bell was later identified as the driver of the 2007 Nissan Quest involved in the fatal incident and reportedly continued east on Fourth Street without stopping after he struck the man.

TPD investigators visited Bell’s residence in Duncanville just before 2 a.m. the morning of the hit-and-run, where they located the heavily damaged van parked outside.

TPD then said Bell was taken into custody and examined at DCH before he was questioned at the by the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit.

Bell was initially jailed on a misdemeanor harassment charge after shoving a VCU investigator during that interview in May, TPD said Friday.

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