A man accused of running over a person July 24 before fleeing the scene has ties to an unsolved homicide in 2017, according to law enforcement.

The crash seriously injured 35-year-old Jacob Martinez, who died in the hospital three days later, according to Colorado Springs police. Authorities investigated the suspect, 39-year-old Daniel Nations, in connection with a 2017 killing of a mountain biker, but he was never charged, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

TIMELINE: Daniel Nations' major life events, criminal history

Witnesses told police that Martinez was run over near the intersection of North Union Boulevard and Hillcrest Avenue by a driver believed to be Nations in an apparent road rage incident, according to his arrest affidavit.

According to the affidavit, video footage shows Martinez stepping out of his car with his hands visibly empty to confront the driver of a blue Chevrolet Equinox that is stopped several car lengths behind his. The driver then “intentionally” turned into him, pushing him across the street until he fell to the ground. Footage shows the Equinox shift as if it went over Martinez, who was dragged along the roadway for “numerous” feet before coming to a rest in the center shared lane on North Union Boulevard, the affidavit states.

The Equinox then fled the scene. 

Detectives were able to identify the license plate of the Equinox and tracked it to an apartment where Nations lived. Nations told police that he and his wife were the only ones who drove the car and that his wife had not driven it that day. 

Nations, a convicted sex offender, is being held in the El Paso County jail on a no-bond hold on suspicion of first-degree murder, jail records show.

Caitlin Ford, a spokeswoman with the Police Department, said in an email that authorities filed first-degree charges because Nations “intentionally” drove his vehicle at Martinez with the intent to cause harm, indicating there was some level of “planning/thought.”

While being taken to jail, Nations purportedly told police that Martinez “jumped in front of the car” and that Nations was scared he had a gun, the affidavit states.

“I was just trying to get away from him,” Nations allegedly told investigators.

A Monument mountain biker found fatally shot

On Sept. 17, 2017, a bicyclist, identified as 60-year-old Tim Watkins, was found dead on Mount Herman after a three-day search near Limbaugh Trail close to Monument. Watkins’ body was found on a hillside with multiple gunshot wounds.

Menacing suspect had anger issues, but wife doubts he killed Monument cyclist

Cassandra Sebastian, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Nations was a suspect in the case, but he was never arrested in connection with Watkins’ death.

A few weeks before the murder, Nations reportedly threatened bikers with a hatchet. He later pleaded guilty through a plea deal almost a year later to menacing charges related to the incident and was sentenced to two years at a Colorado Department of Corrections facility with the possibility of parole, court records show.

Rob Meeker, a friend of Watkins, told The Gazette in 2018 that he saw a red car and red-haired man resembling Nations during the search for the mountain biker.

A week after the murder, Nations was arrested on weapons violations in Teller County after police pulled him over. Police found a hatchet and a .22-caliber rifle in his car, according to previous Gazette reporting. He later pleaded guilty to weapon possession as a convicted felon through a plea deal almost a year later, court records show.

Daniel Nations no longer a major concern in Delphi murders

Nations’ wife at the time, Katelyn, casted doubt of his involvement in Watkins’ murder, stating at the time of the incident that she didn’t think Nations, who was living in a tent or sleeping at cheap hotels with his family in August and September of 2017, had time to shoot someone and hide a body.

She told The Gazette in 2017 that Nations had anger issues and was sent over the edge during an incident at Mount Herman, where she said a passing truck took a corner too fast and edged into their lane, forcing Nations to almost maneuver their car off the side. Police said in Nations’ arrest records that a man and woman resembling the two were involved in menacing complaints in the area on Aug. 23 and 24.

After spending 10 months in jail for various crimes, including the menacing incident, Nations visited The Gazette office in 2018 to clear his name, stating: “I’m not what they made me out to be.” He said that the speculation of him being responsible for the slaying had ruined his name and marriage.

Sebastian said Watkins’ murder case is still open.

Daniel Nations in court; additional felony count delayed