One burglary suspect was killed and another injured when their vehicle crashed about a mile from a Pulaski County home they forced their way into and assaulted the resident, authorities said.
The Pulaski County sheriff's office said deputies were first called about 10 p.m. Monday to 3300 W. Hensley Road in Hensley after the 77-year-old resident reported being pepper-sprayed by two men that forced their way in and then made off with his cellphone and wallet.
The victim said it started when a woman knocked on his door and said her car had broken down in front of the home. When he opened the door, two men forced their way in, knocked him to the ground and sprayed a substance believed to be pepper-spray in his eyes, according to a sheriff's office report.
The group then fled in a dark-colored pickup.
The sheriff's office said a vehicle matching that description then wrecked about a mile east of the home in the 4700 block of West Hensley Road.
Two occupants of the wrecked truck, Chloe Jolus, 36, and Reddie Robert Stanley, 24, both of Pine Bluff, were taken to UAMS Medical Center. Jolus died there. Stanley was still in treatment at the hospital Tuesday morning.
Sheriff's office Lt. Carl Minden said both are suspects in the aggravated burglary shortly before the crash and that a third suspect was not found at the wreck scene. A witness reported seeing a third person who had been in the pickup flee the scene.
Minden said charges against Stanley are pending.