Bell Employee Arrested in Car Accident Causing Injuries

FORT WORTH — A Hurst man is accused of driving the car early Wednesday that hit two men outside the Bell Helicopter plant in east Fort Worth, where workers have been on strike for a month.

Cullen McNair, 76, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault, police said.

McNair, a Bell employee who is not on strike, was released from jail after posting bail totaling $20,000 on the two counts, said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman.

Police identified the injured men as John Bird, 50, of Fort Worth and Jimmy Shook, 53, of Alvarado.

Shook was treated and released at Texas Health Hurst-Euless-Bedford hospital, said Jennifer Gordon, a hospital spokeswoman.

Medical information on Bird was unavailable, although police indicated that neither of the men was seriously injured.

"I know one person got his foot run over, and that was probably the worst of the injuries," Fort Worth police Capt. Bryan Sudan said.

It was the first arrest during the month-old strike, Sudan said. He added that he didn’t know whether any tickets had been issued to anyone on either side of the strike.

"We’ve had minor incidents," Sudan said, "[But] this is the first custodial arrest we’ve made out there.

"The motive, I can’t tell you. That’s going to come from statements," he said.

A witness, Mike Sandberg of Keller, said he has been picketing with fellow strikers since June 14.

"There was a guy in a silver Miata who was getting to work and he was behind another guy," Sandberg said. "The [two men] were walking between the two cars, and this guy was trying to swerve around to get in to work faster."

Sandberg said one man’s foot was run over and another man was "clipped" by a mirror on the car.

"He was in cuffs and they put him in the back of the car," Sandberg said of the driver. "There was no mistaking he was being arrested."

The Associated Press reported that union representatives and officials from Bell Helicopter were to return to the bargaining table today — the fourth time since nearly 2,500 manufacturing workers went on strike a month ago.

Staff writer Yamil Berard contributed to this report.


He was in cuffs and they put him in the back of the car. There was no mistaking he was being arrested."

Mike Sandberg of Keller,
striker who saw the arrest