Two separate vehicle pursuits on Sunday led to separate arrests for felony fleeing and other charges.
Hot Springs police say two local men were arrested Sunday after they led officers on a brief chase through several residential areas before wrecking their vehicle.
The driver, identified as Taevon Alexander Gordon, 20, who lists a Lily Ruth Court address, stayed with the vehicle where it wrecked in the 100 block of McCafferty Street and was charged with felony fleeing, punishable by up to six years in prison, and misdemeanor counts of careless and prohibited driving, reckless driving, nine counts of failure to stop or yield, no liability insurance, no driver's license and going the wrong way down a one-way street, police said.
The passenger, identified as Gerrard Richard Wells, 19, who lists a Magnolia Street address, reportedly fled on foot but was taken into custody in the yard of a nearby residence and charged with misdemeanor fleeing and felony possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to six years in prison, police said.
Gordon and Wells both appeared via video Monday morning in Garland County District Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bond for Gordon was set at $1,500 while bond for Wells was set at $10,000. Both remained in custody and are set to appear Sept. 24 for a hearing to determine if their cases will be bound over to Garland County Circuit Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after noon Sunday, Cpl. Allen Constant was on patrol in the area of Broadway Terrace when he reportedly heard what sounded like a car wreck somewhere in the 300 block of Malvern Avenue. While making his way to the area, he reportedly observed a silver Cadillac CTS leaving the scene.
He said he attempted a traffic stop but the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Gordon, refused to stop and a pursuit ensued. Gordon allegedly traveled the wrong way down a one-way street, completely disregarded several stop signs and other motorists while driving too fast for the wet, rainy conditions "with no regard for human life and property," the affidavit states.
The chase extended over several residential city blocks before coming to an abrupt end on McCafferty Street where Gordon reportedly wrecked into a wooded area. He was reportedly taken into custody without incident at the scene.
After the vehicle wrecked, Wells reportedly fled on foot toward the area of Wood Street and Hobson Avenue. At that time, Officer Jason Greene reportedly backed his vehicle into a driveway on Hobson Avenue inside the perimeter set by police and observed Wells running toward his location.
Greene reportedly ran toward Wells at that time. As he was running, he reportedly saw Wells hunch over and begin to pull an unknown object from his waistband area. Greene immediately began issuing verbal commands for Wells to show his hands out of fear that Wells was attempting to pull a weapon from his waistband.
When Wells removed his hand from his pants, Greene reportedly observed a glass container in his hand. Wells allegedly threw the container into another yard and attempted to jump a fence where he was taken into custody. Officers allegedly found numerous individually packaged bags of suspected marijuana weighing about 21.5 grams total.
• About seven hours later, police arrested another local man, Christopher Deshawn Stewart, 18, following a second unrelated vehicle pursuit and after he allegedly fled on foot and hid under a house.
Stewart, who lists a Woodlawn Avenue address, was taken into custody around 7:45 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of Leonard Street and charged with felony counts of fleeing and possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Stewart was later released on $6,000 bond and is set to appear Aug. 7 in district court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Officer Jonathan Smith spotted a black 2006 Ford Crown Victoria with illegally tinted windows driving carelessly while southbound on Seventh Street.
He said he attempted unsuccessfully to catch up to the vehicle, but it was traveling at a high rate of speed as it continued onto Alpine Street past numerous people standing by their vehicles "with indifference to the value of human life."
Smith activated his lights and then his siren as the vehicle continued along several residential streets without stopping and lost sight of the vehicle at one point as it turned onto Audubon Street. He turned to follow and located the vehicle stopped on the side of the street with the passenger side door open.
After determining the vehicle was empty, Smith retrieved his police dog, Bear, and began a track from the passenger door. A few minutes later, dispatch advised a witness had seen a man matching the driver's description forcing entry to the rear crawl space area of a residence on Leonard Street.
Smith said he reached the crawl space area and gave verbal commands for the suspect to come out with his hands up and warned he would release Bear, but the commands were allegedly ignored.
Bear was released but was unable to make his way around the HVAC ductwork under the house so Smith brought him back out. Officers continued searching and finally located the driver, identified as Stewart, hiding in a corner of the crawl space and took him into custody without further incident.
On the ground near where Stewart was hiding officers reportedly found a baggie with 26.1 grams of marijuana and found $135 in cash in his pocket. In his vehicle, they reportedly found numerous baggies with marijuana residue and a set of scales.
Local on 07/31/2018