LITTLE ROCK — Two Little Rock Police officers are on administrative leave with pay following a Tuesday morning shooting that left one man dead, one injured and one in jail.
Officers Joshua E. Black and Erik Temple are on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into the shooting along Old Forge Drive in the Sturbridge area of west Little Rock.
The shooting happened when officers responded to a theft from a vehicle.
As part of an ongoing crackdown on auto thefts and thefts from vehicles, Little Rock Police had placed a former detective's car in a parking lot behind El Chico, 1315 Breckenridge Drive,two days ago. About 4 a.m. Tuesday, police say three Saline County men stole a laptop from the unlocked 1998 Oldsmobile and, it appears, searched the area for another vehicle.
Officers found the suspects stopped in the 1600 block of Old Forge Drive, behind another private vehicle. The officers opened fire when the driver began backing the car in their direction. The shots hit the driver and a passenger.
"They were trying to back over the officers," police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said. "That was their intention."
After the shots, the driver sped north on Old Forge before running into some bushes on Gristmill Road. The driver, Lance Stucker, 30, of Bryant,jumped out and ran two blocks before collapsing, struck once in the chest. He was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock where he was pronounced dead.
The two passengers, Joshua James Black, 31, and Rodney Clay Warren, 22, both of Alexander, fled on foot and hid under a nearby house, police said.
Warren was struck by a bullet in the stomach and was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. He was in stable condition and will likely be charged once he is released, Hastings said.
Joshua James Black was charged with breaking and entering an auto, theft of property and manslaughter, because he was involved in a crime in which someone died.
Tuesday afternoon, tire marks were visible on the roadway outside Stephen Denham's Old Forge home. He and his wife awoke around 4:35 a.m.
"We remember hearing the gunshots," Denham said. "It was like a crack ... pop ... pop pop."
Then they heard the screeching tires, he said.
Hastings said the department has been using the former detective's car in various parts of town to attempt to catch thieves. Tuesday's arrest was the first to come from the sting.
"We will continue probably to use this procedure," Hastings said.
Through September, 964 vehicles have been stolen in Little Rock. Officers in the northwest patrol district have responded to 1,399 calls of breaking or entering a vehicle and stealing items, according to department figures.
Officer Joshua E. Black has been involved in two previous shootings.
In March 2002, he was shot in the arm by a man who then killed himself. In May 2005, he shot a North Little Rock man who was suspected to have broken into a car in the River Market District. The man refused Black's orders to stop and pointed an object at the officer. The object turned out to be a screwdriver. The man survived the shooting.
Arkansas, Pages 9, 14 on 10/31/2007