A prisoner accused of escaping from a Van Buren courtroom and stealing a deputy's patrol car was charged Monday with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, in addition to escape, theft of property, fleeing and criminal mischief.
Necolle Brooke Speaks, 24, of Van Buren, crashed the car into a tree line along Interstate 40 near Alma on Friday after being forced from the road by Arkansas State Police Trooper Josh Elmore, according to a report from the Crawford County sheriff's office.
Bound in leg shackles and handcuffs, Speaks slipped out a side door in the Crawford County courtroom after the judge called for a recess, said Sheriff Ron Brown.
Brown said there was a lot of movement in the courtroom at that moment. One deputy had left to take a prisoner to the bathroom, and the bailiff had stepped out of the courtroom to call for someone whose name was on the court docket.
Speaks found an unlocked patrol car in the parking lot with keys in the console next to the seat, said Brown.
According to the report by Lt. Matthew McGrew of the sheriff's office, deputies were in pursuit when Speaks stopped at a red light at Arkansas 59 and the Interstate 40 on-ramp.
Deputy Carl Burcham jumped out of his car and ran up to the vehicle Speaks was driving. He grabbed her through the open window, attempting to pull her out of the car, wrote McGrew.
"As Deputy Burcham grabbed Speaks, Speaks sped away, causing Deputy Burcham to be thrown into the vehicle next to them," according to the report. Brown said the other vehicle wasn't moving and Burcham wasn't injured.
Once on the interstate, Speaks swerved the patrol car, almost hitting Elmore's vehicle, which was parked on the shoulder with the emergency lights flashing, the report said. That's when Elmore joined the chase and forced Speaks from the interstate with a tactical ramming maneuver that causes a vehicle to spin out of control.
Speaks was apprehended in the floorboard of the car. There were no signs of injury and she wasn't complaining of any pain, according to the report.
Brown said 25 prisoners had court appearances in Van Buren on Friday. Two deputies were shuttling them from the jail to the courthouse and back, and two deputies were stationed at the courthouse.
The sheriff said he's investigating the escape.
According to court filings, Speaks was in court Friday for a plea hearing on charges of terroristic threatening, possession of drug paraphernalia and unauthorized use of a vehicle. The first two charges are felonies. Speaks was formally charged May 3 and pleaded innocent the next day.
Speaks was listed as a habitual offender, which means she has four or more felony convictions.
Speaks is scheduled for trial today on the charges from May. Her attorney, Ryan Norris, filed a motion Monday asking for the trial to be postponed so plea negotiations could be continued based on the new charges. No such order had been entered on the docket as of late Tuesday.
According to a Sept. 14 letter in her file regarding a mental evaluation, Speaks had a mental disease but not defect, meaning she was able to understand the charges against her and was deemed fit to proceed through the legal process.
Metro on 09/28/2016