Crashes kill 2 people; officer injured

A 22-year-old driver died and a Maumelle police officer was injured early Saturday in a head-on collision that occurred as the lawman was responding to a call for service in central Arkansas, authorities said.

Arkansas State Police also reported that a Texas man was killed in an accident in Arkansas on Friday evening.

Saturday’s crash happened shortly before 1 a.m. as Maumelle officer Christopher Cruse, 23, was driving north on Arkansas 100 near Arkansas 365, according to a statement from the Maumelle Police Department.

The other driver — identified by state police as An-

thony Demorris Walker, 22, of Maumelle — was traveling south in the northbound lanes in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, authorities said.

Walker was fatally injured in the crash. Cruse, who state police said is from North Little Rock, suffered injuries to both legs, authorities said.

Also injured were Camisha Smith of Little Rock and Tryon McClure of North Little Rock, both 23, who were passengers in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, state police said.

State police are handling the investigation, which authorities said is in its preliminary stages.

On Friday, William Melvin Yeargan, 70, of Argyle, Texas, died in a single-vehicle crash in Lawrence County, state police reported.

Yeargan was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Suburban south on Arkansas 67 in Walnut Ridge, state police said.

Around 7:20 p.m., he drove off the road at a curve near Dunlap Road, and his vehicle struck the Coon Creek embankment, according to the report.