For the majority of the time a North Little Rock man was driving a stolen patrol car Saturday, he also was chatting with dispatchers over the radio and claiming the deputies he attacked were not law enforcement officers at all, call records show.
Jerry York, 51, was arrested on eight charges Saturday after leading deputies on a chase in a patrol vehicle and injuring three officers, two of whom were hospitalized, according to an arrest report.
York began calling 911 repeatedly just before 3 p.m. Saturday, according to recordings of the calls. In the calls, York makes few coherent statements and refuses to answer dispatchers' questions.
In one call, York asks for the dispatcher's name and, as soon as the dispatcher responds, hangs up. In another, York says "Hang on, sweet pea," and then talks to someone in the background for several seconds before hanging up again.
"You get out of here," York said in one 911 call.
"Sir, do you need help? Is someone hurt?" the dispatcher asked.
"I don't need any help, I'm just saying," York replied.
"If you don't need any help, why are you calling 911?"
York hung up.
After at least seven similar 911 calls, one of the dispatchers contacted a deputy, saying York was "obviously intoxicated and mumbling," and two deputies went to his residence on McArthur Drive to ask him to stop abusing the emergency number.
Moments after deputies left the residence, York was on the phone again.
When deputies returned, York had gotten into a truck and was driving down McArthur.
While deputies attempted to make a traffic stop, York appears to have called 911 again, and in the background he says "Ma'am, ma'am" repeatedly while an officer asks him to step out of his vehicle.
In the background of the call recording, there is a clatter and someone breathes heavily into the speaker before the line drops.
York punched one of the deputies who attempted to handcuff him and, after being shot with a stun gun, stole a deputy's baton and hit deputies with it, according to an arrest report. The report said the stun gun was "unsuccessful," and York was able to get into a deputy's vehicle.
"He took off with my unit," a deputy told dispatchers.
The patrol car's blue lights were rolling as York pulled away and began a chase that looped up and down McArthur Drive before heading toward Camp Robinson's Military Drive entrance.
Throughout the chase -- which varied from 10 to 60 mph -- York repeatedly used the police radio to talk with dispatchers, according to recordings of the conversations.
"That woman's not a cop," he said.
"I think that's the suspect keying up on the radio," a deputy said.
"What's this car look like?" York responded. "Talk to me. Who was the lady driving this?"
"You need to pull -- " a dispatcher said before York cut her off.
"Her and a little half-Mexican guy jumped me and beat the s**t out of me," York said. "Listen to me, I told them I'd leave it. What I need ya'll to do is listen to me The woman who was driving this car had blonde hair, she didn't have no gun, she had a Taser. She tased me ... I called the FBI last night. The FBI is watching you right now."
Throughout the conversation, the dispatcher tells York to pull the patrol vehicle over, but York refuses, and contends that the deputies who attempted to arrest him could not have been law enforcement officers.
Deputies laid out two lines of spikes along the path where York was driving in circles, according to dispatch recordings. York swerved to miss one of the spike rows, but a second blew out the patrol car's front tire, deputies said over the radio.
"Jerry, Jerry I'm trying to help you," a dispatcher said. "Pull the car over, Jerry."
He didn't.
In front of the Camp Robinson entrance on Military Drive, York swerved the car onto Donovan Briley Boulevard -- where another sheriff's deputy was waiting.
"He just tried to ram ..." a deputy said over the radio. "Be advised he just hit a unit."
When the vehicle finally came to a stop on Donovan Briley Boulevard, York refused to exit the vehicle, and deputies broke out the driver's side window to place him under arrest, Lt. Matt Kornas said Saturday.
"Start MEMS," a deputy said over the radio, his voice rising. "Start MEMS. Start MEMS."
"What's the location?" the dispatcher responded. "What's your location?"
For several moments, no one spoke as muffled sirens filled the background.
"Tell them to send two," another deputy said, after giving his location. "One for the suspect, and one for the deputy."
The two deputies who were assaulted with a baton were taken to the hospital and a third who was in the vehicle that was rammed had only a superficial head wound, Kornas said. Two department vehicles were severely damaged and had to be towed away.
Lt. Chris Ameling said Wednesday that the deputies returned home Saturday night and are recovering. Blood alcohol tests to determine whether York was intoxicated have not yet been returned, Ameling said.
After being checked out at a hospital, deputies arrested York on charges of resisting arrest, second-degree criminal mischief, fleeing, theft of property, two counts of criminal attempt and two counts of second-degree battery.
As of Wednesday evening, York was in the Pulaski County jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond.
Metro on 12/13/2018