Detective dies after striking bridge guardrail on assist call – Law Officer

LITTLE ROCK  — A Benton police detective died Wednesday afternoon, more than a week after his department said he was hospitalized following a wreck where he hydroplaned and struck a bridge guardrail.

According to police, Det. James “Mike” Lett died around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after being seriously injured in the single-vehicle accident on Interstate 430 in the late morning of Oct. 28.

KATV reported that Detective Lett was traveling to the Benton Police Department on the morning of his accident to assist with the agency’s Drug Take Back efforts. He struck a guardrail near Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock.

Lett had been sedated at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock since the wreck and seemed to be making progress to bring him out of sedation, officials said.

Police said Lett’s care team discovered Monday that he had suffered several strokes causing his condition to become more critical.

Lett had served in central Arkansas law enforcement since 1996, Benton police said. He worked in Pulaski County, Saline County, the Maumelle Police Department, and the state’s attorney general’s office. He had been a detective with Benton since 2019.