Car’s mercury load lingers as problem
HOT SPRINGS — A car that crashed in a Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission parking lot three months ago continues to cause problems for the city and a local wrecker service.
The 2009 Mitsubishi Galant was carrying mercury, which leaked onto the pavement and required an environmental cleanup that cost the city commission thousands of dollars.
After the crash, the damaged vehicle was towed by Combs & Burks Wrecker Service. The vehicle, still tainted with mercury, has remained on Combs & Burks’ property at the request of law enforcement officials, according to Wayne Touchton, owner of Combs & Burks.
“I would like to get rid of it and get it crushed,” Touchton said. “I’ve just got a car full of poison sitting on my property that I can’t do anything with.”
Dakota Avants, 22, of Pine Bluff was the car’s driver, according to authorities, and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after two passengers in the car — Kersha L. Arrington, 32, and Ashley Nicole Whittington, 30, both of Pine Bluff — died of injuries suffered in the crash. The crash occurred after a high-speed chase that originated in Hot Spring County.
According to an arrest affidavit, Avants was westbound on U.S. 270 at 12:10 a.m. May 16 traveling at 68 mph — 13 mph over the posted speed limit of 55 mph. Cpl. Michael Sealy, with the Hot Spring County sheriff’s office, attempted to pull over the vehicle for a routine speeding stop, the affidavit says. After Sealy activated his car’s emergency lights, Avants accelerated and sped away at 100 mph, according to reports.
During the ensuing 10-mile chase, Avants drove on the wrong side of the road and ran other motorists off the highway, reports said. Sealy left his county of jurisdiction during the chase, eventually following Avants into Garland County and into Hot Springs, according to reports.
The pursuit ended when Avants lost control of the car and wrecked it in the parking lot, reports said. After the crash, Avants climbed out of the driver’s-side window and fled on foot, pursued by Sealy, reports said. Avants was eventually taken into custody by Sealy at Broadway Avenue and Market Street.
Avants and the two passengers were taken to CHI St. Vincent hospital in Hot Springs. The two passengers died in the hospital within four days of the crash, and Avants was transferred to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
Avants said he fled from Sealy because his license might have been expired, according to reports. He also said he was trying to impress his passengers with the high-speed chase, which he said ended while he was traveling about 130 mph, reports said.
Avants has since been charged in Hot Spring County with two counts of first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison, and one count of fleeing, punishable by up to six years in prison. He is also charged in Cleveland County with one count of theft of property, punishable by up to 10 years in prison; three counts of breaking or entering, each punishable by up to six years in prison; residential burglary, a felony; and second-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.
None of the court documents in the case mention the mercury or how it came to be in the car. The mercury also is not mentioned in the preliminary fatal crash summary on file with the Arkansas State Police.
Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs — the convention and visitors bureau operated by the Advertising and Promotion Commission — said he called the Hot Springs Fire Department after the mercury was discovered.
“That’s a very hazardous material,” Arrison said. “The Fire Department did what they could. We called in experts to get rid of the mercury.”
Waste Services Inc. of Little Rock was hired to clean up the spill at a cost of $12,938. The Advertising and Promotion Commission subsequently sent a letter to J. James Joseph of Monticello, the listed owner of the crashed car, asking for proof of insurance.
“We’re hoping there was insurance on the car,” Arrison said. “That’s what we’re pursuing first. If not, then we’ll have to look at the legal remedies.”
Arrison said the police report filed about the crash failed to list an insurance company for the vehicle or whether the car was insured. If the car is insured, the commission would be able to file a claim.