Early morning pursuit ends with fatal crash

CONWAY — A suspect who reportedly led police on a chase Thursday morning ultimately died after crashing into a semi truck on Highway 64.

Arkansas State Police were called to the scene to conduct a fatal crash investigation following the incident, ASP spokesman Bill Sadler said.

According to an ASP fatal crash report, the crash occurred at 7:28 a.m. in the 260 block of Highway 64, just outside of Conway.

The suspect was driving a 2015 Honda Accord as he fled from a Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office deputy, the report states.

During the pursuit, the suspect crossed over the center line into the eastbound lane on Highway 64, striking the front end of a 1996 Kenworth T600. The semitrailer truck “veered off the south side of the roadway” after it was hit. The Honda Accord spun around about 180-degrees “in a counter clockwise rotation” before it ultimately slid under the semi.

At this point, the two vehicles “caught on fire immediately,” the report states.

Details regarding the initial chase were not available by press time Thursday. FCSO spokesman Erinn Stone said the matter “is still under investigation” and that more information will be released once the investigation is complete.

Traffic was rerouted as responding fire departments worked to put out the flames. The area was blocked off for more than an hour following the crash as crews worked to clear the roadway of debris.

The driver of the semi truck was able to escape the burning vehicle and was not injured.

The identity of the driver of the Honda Accord has not been released.

Authorities described weather conditions as “clear” and said roadways were “dry” at the time of the crash.

This was the 511th fatality on Arkansas roadways in 2020, according to preliminary data.

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HOT SPRINGS — The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has officially opened the search for the classes of 2023 and 2024 while taking a new approach to recruiting students during the COVID19 pandemic.

ASMSA is a public residential high school serving academically and artistically motivated students of all background from throughout the state of Arkansas. A cohort of 230 students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades attend classes and live on Hot Springs campus in a community of learning unlike any other in the state. The school was established by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1991 and opened in 1993.

Just as its students persevere and adapt to changing and adverse circumstances, ASMSA has launched new approaches to admissions recruitment in light of the pandemic. While the institution has offered online information sessions previously, it has expanded the number of opportunities to allow students and their families to connect directly from their home with admissions representative, current students and ASMSA faculty members.

Online information sessions will be offered throughout the fall and early spring semesters.

In addition to the introductory Life and Learning at ASMSA online information sessions, more than a dozen sessions with specific topics will be provided. Some of the topics covered include science at ASMSA; arts and music; world languages and global learning; humanities; math, computer science and entrepreneurship opportunities; research; residence life; and other topics. Two sessions will focus on the application process.

During these sessions, current ASMSA students, as well as members of the faculty and staff, will be available to answer questions in addition to admissions representatives. For a full list

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of online sessions and registration, go to visit.asmsa.org.

In place of physically visiting schools throughout the state, admissions recruiters will conduct video conferencing sessions with students at their current schools. Information with details on how to arrange the video campus visits will be sent to guidance counselors and Gifted and Talented coordinators at schools statewide.

ASMSA will continue to offer opportunities to visit campus through the traditional Preview Days and Focus Weekends. These events present the chance for prospective applicants and their families to meet with current ASMSA students, tour the campus and gain a better understanding of student life at ASMSA.

Focus Weekends further allow participants to engage in a two-hour workshop in a subject of interest to them.

Students apply to ASMSA through a competitive admissions process that evaluates high school coursework, ACT/SAT scores, responses to essay questions, recommendation forms and other accomplishments. Finalist candidates are invited to attend Interview Weekends in April. The process is similar to application at selective colleges and universities.

The rigorous applications process assists ASMSA in identifying for admission well-rounded young Arkansans who possess a strong sense of character, actively give to their communities and seek out the most challenging coursework available to them while applying themselves to the best of their abilities. Students must submit their completed application packet no later than March 1, 2021. To learn more about ASMSA’s application process and the requirements for admission, visit asmsa.org/ admissions, call 501-622-5235 or email admissions@asmsa.org.

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SEARCY — A 42-year-old man was arrested near Searcy on Thursday and charged preliminarily with three counts of aggravated

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animal cruelty in regards to kittens being burned to death.

According to Lt. Chancey Warden, the White County Sheriff's Office went to the 100 block of Blair Street, between the Searcy city limits and Higginson, around 8:45 a.m. and spoke with a resident, Lisa Lemons, concerning two 'small kittens' that had been killed and another with an injury to its tail.

Lemons' husband, Jeremy, was developed as a suspect, Warden wrote. He reportedly was bonding out of the White County Detention Center on 'unrelated charges,' but was taken to the sheriff's office to be interviewed about the animals.

He reportedly gave a 'statement of his involvement' and was charged with three class D felonies and booked into jail. He is set for bond arraignment Friday at 9 a.m. and to appear in White County Circuit Court for plea and arraignment Dec. 12 at 9 a.m.

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JONESBORO — The Craighead County Detention Center is allowing in-person visitation for the first time in seven months, starting Saturday.

Visits were suspended in March when Arkansas reported its first case of COVID-19. The Jonesboro jail had its own outbreak in August, when more than 50 inmates and staffers tested positive for the virus, according to previous Sun reporting.

As of Thursday, no detainees are infected and at least one employee who tested positive is quarantining, Craighead County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Justin Rolland said. Arkansas Department of Health directives allow visitation for long-term care facilities that haven’t had more than three active resident or staff cases at any one time within the last 14 days.

The sheriff’s office mulled over reopening visitation areas “for quite some time,” finalizing the decision Monday, he said.

“The sheriff (Marty Boyd) decided that now is a good time as any to try to … open it up to give families a chance to visit with inmates. In order to do something like, it took some work to decide all the proper protocols to ensure

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everybody’s (safe),” Rolland said.

When inmates are booked into jail, they are held in a separate area and quarantined for 14 days. In-person visitation is barred for the detainees under quarantine, Rolland said.

An inmate can have up to one adult and two children during a visit and visitors will wait outside the visitation area until they’re called in, according to the sheriff’s office guidelines released Wednesday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a close contact is someone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes. Face coverings and temperature checks will be mandatory for the 10-minute visits, the guidelines state.

“In a normal situation we would have 10 to 12 inmates at a time visiting with their family but we’ve cut that down to about half … and we’ve also cut the visitation time to basically target the CDC and (state) health department guidelines,” Rolland said.

In-person visitation will be done on a “trial basis” that will be reassessed after this weekend, he said.

Detainees have had access to phones and an email system to communicate with loved ones, Rolland said.

“It could very well be a temporary thing. … We’re looking at implementing a policy that pertains to virtual visitation using some type of device like an iPad,” he said.