A 28-year-old Cabot woman is facing shoplifting, drug and traffic charges after she stole from a Wal-Mart, fled at high speed and during a police pursuit threw methamphetamine from the car and caused a traffic accident, the Lonoke County sheriff’s office said.
The Cabot Police Department received a report about 1 p.m. Tuesday of a shoplifter leaving the Wal-Mart store at 304 S. Rockwood Drive in an older-model Mustang convertible, Lt. James Kulesa of the Lonoke County sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Ashley Michelle Leslie drove the Mustang back and forth along Rockwood Drive, first leading deputies south and then turning and heading back north, Kulesa said. Deputies and Cabot officers pursued her as she again turned south and threw two plastic bags from her car, according to the statement. The Mustang then headed east onto Main Street toward the intersection with Arkansas 367, where she hit a vehicle, which in turn hit another vehicle, authorities said.
Leslie was taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries; the other two drivers involved in the wreck suffered only minor injuries and did not require trips to the hospital, Kulesa said.
The two plastic bags thrown along North Rockwood Drive contained about 7 grams of methamphetamine in ice form, deputies said. Leslie will face charges related to shoplifting, controlled substances and fleeing, along with “numerous traffic violations,” Kulesa said. A parolee, Leslie also was wanted in Lonoke County on a failure to appear warrant, Kulesa said.