Patrol units see damage in chase

Driver arrested, lawmen say

FORT SMITH — A sheriff’s office patrol unit was disabled and three Arkansas State Police units were damaged during a high-speed pursuit in Sebastian County on Tuesday.

The driver involved in the chase, Jennifer K. Porter, 27, of Fort Smith, was arrested on eight counts of aggravated assault, felon in possession of a firearm, and felony fleeing, according to a Sebastian County sheriff’s office news release. Porter will also face charges in the theft of a vehicle, with other charges possibly pending.

A vehicle and a pistol inside it were reported stolen from the 17000 block of Arkansas 45 near Hackett at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said. As one Sebastian County sheriff’s deputy was taking the report, another deputy spotted the red fourwheel drive Dodge pickup on U.S. 71 South near Greenwood at about 11:15 a.m. The deputy attempted to catch up to it, which he had clocked on radar at about 100 mph.

After the deputy activated his safety lights and realized that the vehicle was not going to stop for him, the vehicle left U.S. 71 South and turned west onto Young Ridge Road, the news release said. The deputy announced he was in pursuit of the stolen vehicle.

The fleeing driver started trying to cause the deputy to wreck near the area of Young Ridge and Palestine roads, the news release states. The pursuit continued over multiple county roads and state highways, with Porter brandishing the firearm at the deputy on Dayton Road, authorities said. She afterward stopped and rammed the deputy’s vehicle, disabling it, according to authorities.

Other units from multiple agencies poured into the area around Witcherville, where the vehicle was last seen. The vehicle was spotted again by law enforcement officers at the intersection of U.S. 71 South and Browntown Road, police said. It then fled west on Browntown Road, circling back toward U.S. 71 South, authorities said.

It was during this time that, authorities said, Porter tried to ram multiple law enforcement vehicles, with her reaching speeds between 50 and 90 mph. She also attempted to ram a vehicle that was on the road at the time, authorities said.

State police were able to catch up to the vehicle on U.S. 71 South, north of the Jenny Lind community, and ended the pursuit after performing a maneuver that forced the vehicle to stop, police said.

No one was reported as injured.