A 19-year-old Ralston man has been sentenced to five years in prison for fleeing the scene of a Council Bluffs crash that left a 68-year-old Marine Corps veteran unable to return home. Matthew Fisher was sentenced after leaving injured victim Thomas Sayles behind in a gas station parking lot in July 2026.
The hit-and-run happened in July 2026 in the parking lot of a gas station in Council Bluffs, Iowa, according to KETV. Sayles, a Council Bluffs native and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, suffered critical injuries in the crash. Fisher did not stay at the scene and surrendered at the Pottawattamie County Jail later that month.
Sayles's family spoke publicly about his inability to return home.
Sayles Still Can't Go Home
Sayles still has not been able to return home because of his injuries, his family said.
Under Iowa Code Section 321.261, leaving the scene of a crash that results in serious injury is a Class D felony when the driver knows or has reason to believe their vehicle caused the collision.
License Revoked, Legal Duties Unmet
Beyond prison time, Iowa Code Section 321.261(5) requires the state to automatically revoke the driver's license of anyone convicted of leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death, stripping Fisher of his driving privileges on top of his sentence. Iowa law also requires drivers involved in injury crashes to render reasonable aid to victims, including arranging transportation to a hospital, according to the Younes Law Firm — a duty prosecutors say Fisher failed to meet when he left Sayles injured in the parking lot.
Hoodline has covered a decades-old hit-and-run case elsewhere in Iowa. Pottawattamie County District Court has also been in the news recently over an unrelated matter, after the Iowa Supreme Court backed removing a county supervisor following a drunken town hall appearance.
