4 arrested after car chase that began near Big Dam Bridge, police say

Desare Dean, Sharwin Stuckey, April Johnson and Balincia Matthews
Desare Dean, Sharwin Stuckey, April Johnson and Balincia Matthews

Four Arkansans were arrested early Thursday morning after a car chase that began near the Big Dam Bridge, police said.

Desare Dean, 19; Sharwin Stuckey, 18; April Johnson, 31; and Balincia Matthews, 18, were arrested after police say they led officers on chase and then fled on foot.

The four were all in Johnson’s 2006 Hyundai Sonata when it pulled into a parking lot near the Big Dam Bridge around 1 a.m. Thursday, according to a Little Rock Police Department report. A series of vehicle break-ins have been reported in the same general area, police said.

Police watched the four while the car was in the parking area and then followed the vehicle “due to the number of incidents” it was linked to, the report said.

Authorities said they tried to stop the Hyundai. The car slowed to a stop, then sped up and drove away, at which point officers pursued the car, the report said.

Officers wrote that they chased the Hyundai until it hit a stop sign at the intersection of 13th and Johnson streets, when the four got out of the car and ran away.

Dean, the car’s driver, was charged with five counts of theft by receiving, felony fleeing, felony fraudulent use of a credit card, as well as several misdemeanors, the release said.

Stuckey was charged with two counts of breaking and entering, two counts of theft of property, theft by receiving, fraudulent use of a credit card, several misdemeanors and was also wanted on a felony warrant from the Pulaski County sheriff’s office for fraudulent use of a credit card, according to police.

Johnson was charged with two counts of theft by receiving and fleeing. Matthews was charged with fleeing felony failure to appear, according to the release.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

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