Man arrested in connection to fatal Poplar Bluff hit-and-run accident

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A tip led authorities to a Neelyville, Mo., man who was arrested Tuesday night in connection with a hit-and-run accident that left a local teenager dead.

Cletis W. Powell Jr., 35, was arrested at 11 p.m. Tuesday at his mother's Neelyville home by Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Mike Slaughter.

Powell was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident and subsequently booked at the Butler County Jail, where he was being held Wednesday pending formal charges.

Powell was arrested in connection with a crash that occurred at 9:50 p.m. Sunday on Highway 142 three miles south of Poplar Bluff that left Alexander C. Metzing, 18,

dead.

According to earlier reports, the Poplar Bluff teen was slowing to make a right-hand turn when the motorized scooter he was riding was struck from behind by a dark blue pickup.

The driver of the pickup, now believed to be Powell, then fled the scene.

On Tuesday, authorities received a tip about a vehicle in the Neelyville area, and officers went there to look at one vehicle, said trooper Clark Parrott, Troop E's public information officer.

While that tip "did not pan out," the officers were given information about how "down the road a fellow had a truck ... a blue pickup," Parrott said. "They found [that truck] behind a trailer house.

" ... The blue pickup matched. It had some evidence that matched perfectly the front-end damage," he said.

Parrott said the truck was being processed Wednesday for possible evidence by members of the patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control and Major Crash Investigation Team.

"The Missouri State Highway Patrol sought the assistance from the media and public in the search for this vehicle," Parrott said "The patrol received numerous tips and leads throughout this investigation and is thankful for the assistance that led investigators to the recovery of the truck and the arrest of Powell Jr."

Pertinent address:

Neelyville, MO

Poplar Bluff, MO