Former 'Bachelor' Chris Soules speaks out after leaving the scene of fatal car accident: 'I wish I could have saved his life'
Soules made headlines in 2016 after he left the scene of a fatal car accident.
Former “Bachelor” Chris Soules is speaking out after pleading guilty in 2018 to a reduced misdemeanor charge.
Soules was convicted for leaving the scene of a personal injury accident that resulted in the death of a 66-year-old army veteran, Kenneth Mosher.
In an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America,” Soules said he recognizes the terrible loss for the Mosher family and talks about how his life has changed since the accident.
“It made everything really hard on my family and everyone around me, including myself,” Soules told ABC News' Michael Strahan.
Many remember Soules as the charming farmer from rural Iowa who appeared on the 10th season of “The Bachelorette” in 2014. He went on to star on his own season of "The Bachelor" and "Dancing With the Stars."
Two years after his season ended, Soules was arrested and later convicted for leaving the scene of an accident involving Mosher, a local farmer, husband, father and grandfather.
Soules describes the day of the accident as any normal day on his farm. He said that he was on his way to pick up one of the men he hired. He was driving on a rural road at night when he crashed into a tractor being driven by Mosher.
Court documents say that Mosher was traveling down the dark road without any lights on the tractor.
Soules says he crawled out of his truck and called 9-1-1 after he saw Mosher in a ditch nearby with another truck driver who witnessed the accident.
“All I remember is waking up and -- and radioing to my father and all my hired men, just saying, ‘I need help,’” he said.
When the paramedics arrived, Soules decided to leave the scene - a critical decision that he has been criticized for.
“I don’t know that I was thinking clearly,” the 37-year-old said. “I notified the authorities of what had happened, the paramedics were there, but now I know I was scared and wanted to be in a safer place and be outta there.”
Police arrested Soules hours later at his home after informing him that Mosher had died.
Because he left the scene, Soules has been questioned on whether he had something to hide.
"I had nothing to hide, honestly," he said.
According to the police report, several alcoholic beverage containers were found in Soules’ vehicle, a car he says was used by other people for work-related reasons.
“I was not drinking that night,” he told “GMA.” “The fact is the truck is not mine. It’s not even in my name. We employ over 15 people that -- at any time use that truck for work-related things ... and those cans could have been anybody's.”
"There were four witnesses that swore under oath that they saw no evidence of me appearing to be intoxicated or under the influence of any sort of drug or alcohol," he added.
In August, Soules plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge -- leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. He’s now serving two years' probation.
"I was never charged with causing the accident. I was charged with leaving the scene of a serious injury accident," Soules said. "A man did die and that was a tragedy. My sentence is living with this for the rest of my life,” he said. “The sentence is replaying that moment standing there on the pavement and walking up to a man that wasn’t breathing … knowing I was involved in that -- that’s the sentence that I’ve been given.”
Soules told “GMA” that he hopes to speak with Kenneth Mosher’s family and heal together.
"I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have saved his life," he said. "I wish I wouldn't have been on that road. I did everything I could."
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