A Hot Springs man was arrested Friday afternoon on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges after allegedly fleeing from Arkansas State Police that morning, driving through a creek and fleeing on foot.
Markham Ryan Bunn, 29, who lists a Brown Street address, was taken into custody around 2:15 p.m. and charged with felony counts of possession of meth with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, delivery of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime, each punishable by up to 20 years, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years.
Bunn was also charged with misdemeanor counts of fleeing in a vehicle, fleeing on foot, and driving on a suspended driver's license and cited for careless and prohibited driving, failure to yield, no liability insurance and two counts of using an improper turn signal.
His passenger, identified as Summer Joann Sekavec, 30, who lists a Tanglewood Street address, was arrested on probation and parole warrants and remained in custody Monday on zero bond. Bunn remained in custody on bonds totaling $21,000 and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, Trooper Lukas Tankersley was northbound on Marion Anderson when the driver of a white Jeep Wrangler pulled off Walkway Drive into his path, failing to yield and forcing him to pull onto the side of the road.
Tankersley activated his lights and then his siren to make a traffic stop, but the vehicle continued without stopping. A check of the license plate revealed the Jeep was registered to a Hot Springs company. The driver continued to flee onto Morphew Road and then pulled into Chapel Ridge Apartments, driving through the parking lot at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle exited the parking lot and continued onto Hidden Creek Terrace, a dead end road. When he reached the end of the road, the driver continued traveling through a private yard and into a nearby creek. Tankersley said he exited his unit and ran toward the Jeep with his weapon drawn and ordered the driver and passengers to get out.
The Jeep continued driving through the creek for about 30 yards until it got stuck and then the male driver and two female passengers jumped out and fled on foot in different directions. In searching the vehicle, the trooper found an ID belonging to Sekavec and recognized her as one of the fleeing passengers.
In checking Sekavec's social media, he found a a photo of Bunn and recognized him as the driver of the Jeep. Contact was made with a woman who was assigned the Jeep by the company and she confirmed Bunn had been driving it with her permission.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, Garland County sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call of a burglary in progress at an apartment in the 100 block of Winchester Point. Sheriff's Deputy Roy Elliot arrived and made contact with Bunn and Sekavec at the scene and they were determined to be the suspects who fled the earlier traffic stop and taken into custody.
In searching Bunn's person, officers allegedly found three baggies of what later tested positive for meth, 15.4 grams, a baggie with 2.1 grams of mushrooms, a meth smoking pipe and multiple empty baggies.
When questioned, Bunn allegedly admitted to being in possession of "more than an 8 ball, but less than a half ounce of meth" and admitted the other controlled substance he had was mushrooms. He reportedly said he ran "partially" because of the drugs in his possession and because he didn't want Sekavec to go to jail for her outstanding warrants.
Local on 06/26/2018