CONWAY -- Police arrested two men after one of them fired shots at Faulkner County sheriff's deputies during a car chase between Mayflower and Conway early Monday, Sheriff Andy Shock said.
One bullet struck the windshield of a patrol car during the chase that began just after midnight at the intersection of Arkansas 89 and Arkansas 365 near Interstate 40 in Mayflower. No officers were hurt, and they did not return gunfire, Shock said.
At one point in Conway, the men drove on the wrong side of the interstate, the sheriff's office said in a news release. The chase, which reached speeds above 100 mph, ended after the motor of the men's Mustang began smoking. They then led officers on a short foot chase behind some apartments at Hairston Street in Conway.
Shock said the men -- identified as driver Harvey Martin III, 46, and passenger Christopher J. Cummings, 29, whom police suspect was the shooter -- resisted arrest and suffered scrapes and bruises. They were taken to Conway Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
The ordeal began after the deputies had the Mustang and another car under narcotics surveillance, Shock said. Deputies first stopped a vehicle, described in a news release as a stolen Hyundai Sonata, at the Valero service station near the interstate in Mayflower. Kayla L. Thompson, 31, was arrested on a charge involving the car.
A few minutes later, deputies stopped the the Mustang, "which was being driven by suspects involved with the stolen Hyundai," the release said. "The vehicle pulled over, but before deputies could get to the vehicle, it fled."
Cummings was a parole absconder and had a pistol when he was arrested, the release said. Both men have been repeatedly convicted of felonies, the release said.
All three were in custody Monday afternoon but had not been formally charged. Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said he expects to charge the men with attempted capital murder.
State Desk on 05/06/2015