Garland County officials are searching for a man who escaped authorities during a Sunday night traffic stop.
About 11 p.m. Sunday, officials were dispatched to a home on White Sulphur Road in Hot Springs in reference to a possible kidnapping, sheriff’s Deputy Scott Hinojosa said in an email.
A green Buick Regal was seen leaving the home, and officers subsequently stopped the vehicle and recognized the driver as Shannon Smith, 43, Hinojosa said.
Officers ordered Smith to get out of the car and told him that he was under arrest.
Smith fled in the vehicle, and deputies caught up to him at 1125 E. Grand Ave., where he got out and ran into a wooded area, he said.
Officers found passenger Kandyce Jones, 23, in Smith’s vehicle, along with five sticks of dynamite in a gun case and an airsoft rifle, Hinojosa said.
Jones was charged with five counts of criminal possession of explosives and is being held at the Garland County jail in lieu of $17,500 bond.
Deputies are still searching for Smith and ask anyone with information about his whereabouts to call the sheriff’s office at (501) 622-3666.
Smith is 5-foot-8, weighs about 185 pounds, has blue eyes and is bald, authorities said.
