An Alexander man convicted of attempted murder in 1994 and paroled from prison earlier this year led Little Rock police on a high-speed chase Monday in which he tried to force officers off the road before crashing his vehicle, police said.
Farris Eugene Coney, 51, is accused of leading police on a 23-mile chase that began near Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field and reached speeds of more than 110 mph before it ended on a two-lane road in Bryant west of the Pulaski County-Saline County line.
Officers responded about 12:24 p.m. to the 1900 block of Kellett Road in Little Rock, where they had received a report of a maroon Pontiac Bonneville being driven erratically by a man who was "acting strange" and "thrusting his body," according to a police report. Police later identified the man as Coney.
Officers spotted the vehicle at East Roosevelt Road and Bankhead Drive and followed it onto Interstate 440 west. When officers activated their sirens, Coney refused to stop, according to the report. He drove onto Interstate 30, weaving through moderate traffic at high speeds before exiting onto Scott Hamilton Road and reaching a dead end. That's where Coney turned around, sped toward pursuing police vehicles and swerved "as if he was attempting to force me off the roadway," one of the officers reported.
Coney purportedly swerved toward another officer in an attempt to strike his vehicle before driving onto I-30 west.
Police reported that Coney drove several miles into Saline County and exited the interstate onto a service road. He lost control and crashed into a ditch soon after he turned onto Shobe Road. Officers used "minimal force" to arrest Coney after he refused commands to lie on the ground and refused to stand up after being handcuffed, police said.
No injuries were reported.
Court records show that Coney was convicted of attempted murder 20 years ago in Saline County after he attacked a woman with a hammer. After driving around and listening to music with the woman in the early morning hours of May 12, 1994, he went to the woman's home outside Mabelvale and struck her several times in the head while she slept. The woman's 18-year-old daughter witnessed the attack and testified against him.
A week later, after being arrested by the Saline County sheriff's office, he escaped from the county jail.
Coney was sentenced to a combined 62 years in prison for attempted murder and escape. It was his second conviction on felony charges. When he attacked the woman, he had been on parole for burglary and theft charges.
Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Dina Tyler said Tuesday that Coney was granted parole in his attempted murder sentence in February, the same month he became eligible for release. He was released in April and was to be under the department's supervision until 2056.
Coney had been "doing fine" until Monday, Tyler said. He had attended all scheduled meetings with his parole officer, passed a drug test in September and had no run-ins with police.
"He was doing what he was supposed to do," Tyler said.
Police reported finding three baggies of marijuana totaling 25 grams in Coney's vehicle after Monday's chase. He was charged with fleeing, aggravated assault on a police officer, refusal to submit to arrest, reckless driving and possession of a controlled substance.
He was being held in the Pulaski County jail late Tuesday.
Coney was the second multiple felon who led Little Rock police on a high-speed chase Monday. Minutes earlier, officers had pursued 23-year-old Tearbrey Anderson in a stolen Ford Mustang, according to a police report. That chase also crossed Bankhead Drive.
The pursuit of Anderson began shortly before noon at 7300 S. University Ave., where officers attempted to pull him over and he refused to stop, police said. Anderson purportedly traveled at speeds faster than 120 mph as officers chased him about 10 miles to Bankhead Drive and Frazier Pike, where officers lost sight of the Mustang.
During the chase, a passenger in the vehicle threw a pistol out of the window as it crossed a bridge at Springer Boulevard and I-440, officers reported. The gun was not found. Investigators determined that the weapon landed in water.
No arrests had been made in the case late Tuesday. Police identified Anderson as the suspect in their report on the chase but did not disclose how they had identified him.
Anderson, of 3117 Zion St. in Little Rock, negotiated guilty pleas to charges of fleeing and possession of a controlled substance in March. His six-year prison sentence was suspended, and he was placed on probation, court records show.
In 2011, Anderson was convicted of gun and drug charges after police found a pistol and more than two ounces of marijuana in his car. Officers encountered Anderson and searched his car after they responded to reports of gunfire at Terra Vista Apartments and found he had been shot.
Metro on 12/10/2014