Two arrested in crime spree
EL DORADO — Two men are in custody and other suspects are being sought in connection to a home invasion, a highspeed pursuit, a drug arrest a nd gunshots, all of which occurred Tuesday and extended beyond city limits, prompting investigations by the El Dorado Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Police and sheriff’s deputies are sorting through a tangled web of details stemming from the trio of incidents that are believed to be related.
Both law enforcement agencies said probes into the incidents are continuing, and they anticipate additional arrests.
Willis D. Johnson, 30, of Kevin Lane, and Kenneth E. Clay Jr., 22, of 515 E. Seventh, Apt. C, are scheduled for first appearance hearings today in 35th Judicial District Court for their alleged roles in the incidents.
Johnson faces charges of three counts of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver and
fleeing.
Clay, who was identified as a suspect in the burglary of a residence in the 2900 block of Parnell Road, was arrested for aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by certain persons, residential burglary and parole violation.
No injuries were reported in either the shooting or home invasion, officers said.
Sgt. Scott Harwell, an investigator with the police department, said the incidents unfolded just after 9 a.m. Tuesday when an officer assigned to traffic enforcement in the Murmil Heights neighborhood spotted a vehicle speeding through the area.
The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, which did not stop.
A chase ensued and lasted for several minutes, with speeds reaching 75 to 80 miles per hour through residential streets in Murmil Heights, Harwell said.
He said the suspect(s) reportedly tossed a couple of bags out of the vehicle during the chase.
Fellow officers were called to the scene, and due to the excessive speed, police called off the pursuit.
Harwell said officers returned to the location on Lorene where the bags had been tossed and found bags containing a large amount of powder cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
A short time later, officers found the suspect’s vehicle parked at a residence on Lakeland and towed it from the scene.
Harwell said officers also made contact with Johnson, who was walking along another street in the neighborhood, and they took him into custody, noting that he matched the description of a suspect who was inside the vehicle.
Johnson is believed to have been the driver of the vehicle, Harwell said.
He said police received information that another person was inside the vehicle, but the information had not been verified Tuesday evening.
Approximately three hours later, police received a report of a home invasion at a residence in the 2900 block of Parnell Road.
Union County sheriff’s deputies were subsequently dispatched to the residence, which is just outside city limits, where a woman said a man had come to the residence asking for someone named “Colby.”
The woman said she told the man “he had the wrong house,” and he left in a silver Toyota Camry.
She said the car headed south, turned around and stopped at a house just up the street.
The complainant said two males exited the vehicle and walked toward her residence. As the males got closer, the woman said she saw that they were wearing face masks and gloves.
She said they kicked in the front door, and one of them grabbed her by the neck and pointed a gun to her head.
She said the suspect then forced her “from room to room,” asking, “Where is Weezy’s stuff?”
The suspects overturned the couch and rifled through the kitchen cabinets before taking the woman’s photo I.D., Social Security card, and cellular phone and fleeing the residence, according to a sheriff’s report.
The woman noted that her child was home at the time.
After the suspects fled, the woman said she ran outside and saw two relatives driving by.
She said she got into the vehicle with them, and they told her that they had seen the two suspects running from her residence, leading them to believe that “something was wrong.”
Deputies said the woman’s neck had signs of bruising and was slightly red.
The woman’s relatives told sheriff’s deputies they followed the suspects’ vehicle to Haygood-Neal Garden Apartments, 1315 W. First.
Minutes after the burglary report, El Dorado police responded to a report of shots fired at Haygood-Neal.
Witnesses said two men were chasing two other men and shooting at them.
Police recovered 45-caliber shell casings from the scene.
“We know we have two shooters, and we’re looking for a large caliber handgun. We’ve had several calls about this, and we collected several bits of information that were put out throughout the day,” Harwell said.
Clay was identified as one of the suspects in the home invasion, and he was later taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies in the area of Haygood-Neal.
Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts said other suspects have been identified in connection to the burglary.