The pursuit of a minivan occupied by suspects allegedly involved in an attempted burglary ended early Thursday morning when the vehicle crashed into a utility pole and the suspects fled on foot.
The collision led to a small power outage, and the outside westbound lane of Albert Pike Road near Anna Street was temporarily blocked off Thursday morning so that Entergy Arkansas Inc. crews could repair the damage.
A male resident, 29, who lives on Canyon Springs Road, had called 911 to report that between 2:45 and 3 a.m., he was awakened by his dog barking. He said he looked through his front window and saw two people walk by his house, according to a Garland County sheriff's incident report.
Moments later, his front door was kicked open, prompting him to call out. He saw four suspects, three white males and one white female, run from his house to a waiting white minivan and then drive away.
According to a second incident report, Garland County sheriff's Deputy Elwood McConnell spotted a vehicle, a white 1999 Dodge Caravan minivan, which matched the description given by the victim, traveling in the 5000 block of Sunshine Road shortly after 3 a.m.
He turned around to attempt to make a traffic stop, but the van sped away headed inbound on Airport Road. He pursued the vehicle as it continued east and turned right onto West St. Louis Street. The pursuit continued down several city streets until the van crashed into a utility pole on Albert Pike at Anna Street.
The deputy saw four suspects, three males and one female, jump out of the van and flee on foot.
GCSD Capt. Gary Ashcraft said Thursday investigators learned the van had been reported stolen earlier from a residence on Cones Road in Hot Springs. He said the suspects involved are believed to all be juveniles.
Ashcraft said they had received several complaints of prowlers in the area before the incident on Canyon Springs that they believe are all connected.
Local on 02/17/2017