Two Fordyce police officers “sustained serious injuries” in an accident with a suspect’s vehicle after a pursuit on Monday evening, the Dallas County sheriff said.
Sheriff Mike Knoedl has been providing various updates on Facebook about the pursuit since just before 8:45 p.m. on Monday.
“I am currently on the scene in Bradley County of a pursuit that originated in Fordyce. All Dallas County Deputies are fine and on scene with me,” Knoedl wrote. He added that the two officers were flown to Little Rock hospitals to be treated.
Knoedl wrote that both of the officers were hospitalized at UAMS and one was scheduled for surgery in the morning.
“Please continue to pray for them. This was a horrendous accident and they are both lucky to be alive. I was right behind them when it happened. God was with them,” he wrote.
Just before 2:30 p.m., Knoedl said in a call to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that one officer had been released and the other officer was in the ICU after surgery on his leg.
"It was really bad, I was one of the first to get to them after the crash. The one that was released, I actually thought was deceased because he wouldn't wake up. The second guy was injured and I wouldn't say he was alert but at least talking," he said.
The identities of the officers were not immediately released.
Knoedl identified Frederick Rainey, 55, as the suspect involved in the pursuit in a Facebook post at 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday.
“He is wanted for felony fleeing involving injury. If you see him, please contact your local law enforcement agency,” he wrote.
A Fordyce Police Department vehicle is shown here after the pursuit on Monday evening. (Photo Courtesy of Dallas County Sheriff Mike Knoedl)Knoedl said that the search involved the use of the Arkansas State Police’s aircraft and the Arkansas Department of Corrections dog team.
The sheriff said, as of Tuesday afternoon, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Bradley County sheriff’s office and Dallas County sheriff’s office were also assisting with the search.
“After a long search for the suspect, it was decided to call the search off. We have identified the suspect that was driving the vehicle being pursued,” Knoedl wrote.
Details about what started the pursuit were not immediately released.
“It is really unclear [what started the incident] but the suspect was stopped by two officers and they had probable cause to search the vehicle and he fled, and that’s what began the pursuit,” Knoedl said on Tuesday afternoon.
Knoedl said the pursuit started in Fordyce and went through Cleveland County and ended in Bradley County, where Rainey jumped out of the vehicle with a backpack and continued to flee.