A Little Rock 16-year-old who police say crashed a stolen vehicle while fleeing officers will be prosecuted in juvenile court, a Pulaski County Circuit judge ordered Thursday.
Alex Hughes, who turns 17 in December, was charged with theft by receiving and felony fleeing, charges that together carry up to 12 years in prison if tried as an adult.
Judge Leon Johnson said he was persuaded to transfer the case to juvenile court by testimony that Hughes got good grades in school, was immature and had not been in trouble with the law before.
Officer John Smith testified that he was on patrol about 2:30 p.m. May 21, investigating a complaint about a reckless driver in a silver Chevrolet sport utility vehicle when he saw the teen behind the wheel of a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer that matched the description of the car he was looking for.
Smith told the judge he could see the teen visibly react as they made eye contact near the intersection of 15th and Bishop Warren streets.
Smith said he was driving south while Hughes was driving north. The officer estimated the teen was driving at least 35 mph in a 25 mph zone.
He told the judge that Hughes drove past him and he made a U-turn to follow the teen.
He did not have time to activate his lights and sirens before the SUV sped up and tried to turn onto 16th Street, he said.
The Trailblazer was moving too fast, and the driver lost control, Smith said. The SUV drove up on the curb, striking a car parked on the side of the street.
The impact lifted the rear end of the parked car above the head of a man, Xavier Donald, who had been crouched on the curb working on a water meter, Smith told the judge.
"I honest to God thought it was going to land on him," Smith said.
The driver and passenger fled after the crash, Smith said.
He chased after the driver on foot through the back yard of one home and into an alley where the driver briefly eluded him, the officer testified.
Officer Jeff Holt said he saw the runner outside the alley. The fleeing teen had something silver and shiny in his right hand, which caused him to believe Hughes had a gun, Holt said.
The officers told the judge that they ultimately chased the teen for about two blocks, through alleys and backyards until he made it to the front porch of his home at 4318 W. 18th St., where officers caught him.
He did not have a weapon on him, but police found a silver .380-caliber pistol on the ground when they retraced his steps, Holt said.
Hughes' mother, Precious Dean, testified that her son was an obedient and respectful child who got good grades at Hall High School, where he is in 10th grade. He's enrolled in a learning program for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she said.
The mother of four said Hughes had been expelled from school before for disciplinary problems, but had never been charged with a crime.
The worst problem she's had with him before this episode is that he sometimes comes home late from visiting relatives who live nearby, she said.
The passenger in the SUV, identified in court as 14-year-old Cyrenious Wesson, is Hughes' cousin, she told the judge.
Dean said Hughes was not in school on the day he was arrested because he was sick. She told the judge that she had stayed home with him.
Hughes had never left the house like that without her permission before, she testified. He does not have a driver's licence, and she was surprised he could drive, she said.
Defense attorney Lou Marczuk called on the judge to give the teen a chance for rehabilitation in the juvenile justice system, citing the boy's strong family support and good grades.
Deputy prosecutor Ashley Bowen argued that the dangerous nature of his crime, which could have seriously injured a man, warranted the teen's prosecution as an adult.
Metro on 10/30/2015