Man jailed after chase over river

Springdale sees link to shooting

FORT SMITH — A Springdale man will appear in Sebastian County Circuit Court today on drug and other charges after he was arrested following a high-speed chase Monday that started in Fort Smith and ended in Van Buren.

Daniel Martinez-lagoona, 22, was being held without bond Tuesday in the county jail.

Springdale police also believe Lagoona was involved in an incident Sunday night in Springdale in which a motorist was shot and wounded.

Springdale police are seeking an arrest warrant against Martinez-lagoona in connection with Sunday’s shooting of Steven Tinsley of Fayetteville, said Capt. Mike Peters, head of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division. MartinezLagoona has given police three different names, he said.

No charges were filed against Lagoona in Sebastian, Washington or Crawford counties as of Tuesday afternoon.

Springdale police spokesman Lt. Kevin Lewis said Tinsley was pulling from Zion Road and driving onto U.S. 71 Business in Fayetteville when the driver of the car behind him, described as a white Nissan, began tailgating him.

Lewis said the Nissan ran into the rear of Tinsley’s car twice and sideswiped it once as both cars both drove north on 71B into Springdale.

When Tinsley pulled off the road into a business parking lot, Lewis said, the driver rammed the Nissan into the driver side of Tinsley’s car. Both men got out, but Tinsley got back into his car when he saw the driver of the Nissan with a handgun.

Lewis said Tinsley heard two popping sounds when he began to drive away and realized he had been shot twice in the upper leg. Tinsley was treated for his wounds at Northwest Arkansas Medical Center-springdale and chose to leave the hospital, Lewis said.

Tinsley followed the Nissan about 200 feet and got a partial car tag number before pulling off the road and calling for help, Lewis said.

About 5:10 p.m. Monday, according to Fort Smith police, a patrol officer spotted the Nissan, for which an area alert had been issued in connection with the Springdale shooting, and tried to conduct a traffic stop. The driver of the car sped away from the officer, who then gave chase. On the way to Van Buren across the Arkansas River, a spike strip was put in the driver’s path at the intersection of Albert Pike Road and Kelley Highway in Fort Smith and flattened at least two of the car’s tires, according to a news release from the Fort Smith Police Department.

The Fort Smith police news release stated the driver of the Nissan held a gun to his own head during the chase and refused to surrender after the car struck a parked vehicle in Van Buren and finally stopped. Police removed Cathy Carol Cano, 35, of Fort Smith and another female passenger in the car, leaving Lagoona in the car alone.

Lagoona finally discarded the gun and was arrested after a brief struggle with police. Suspected methamphetamine was found in the car, the Fort Smith news release stated.

Cano, owner of the Nissan, was arrested on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was being held in Sebastian County jail without bond Tuesday.

The third person in the car was questioned by police and released after telling them she had asked Lagoona several times during the chase to let her out of the car.

Lagoona was being held Tuesday on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, fleeing by means of a vehicle, reckless driving, resisting arrest, first-degree false imprisonment and various traffic charges, the release said. Information for this article was contributed by Steve Caraway of NWA Media.