Police arrest Bella Vista man in fatal motorcycle crash

Donald Gene Lyons, 61, of 52 Swanage Drive in Bella Vista was arrested Tuesday in connection with negligent homicide related to a fatal crash in August.

The felony charge carries a penalty of up to six years in prison if convicted.

Lyons also was arrested on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, driving while license suspended or revoked and inadequate insurance during an accident.

Rogers police issued a warrant for Lyons’ arrest based on results of a blood sample collected from Lyons and analyzed at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, according to a news release from the department.

A probable cause affidavit says the sample measured a 0.2 percent blood alcohol content. The legal blood alcohol limit in Arkansas is 0.08 percent. Lyons told Rogers police during an Aug. 31 interview he purchased a half pint of vodka and drank “two shots” earlier in the evening Aug. 29, according to the affidavit

The crash was reported to Rogers police at 9:13 p.m. Aug. 29. Three of the vehicles involved were stopped in south lanes on Eighth Street near the Pleasant Grove Road intersection, according to the probable cause affidavit. A motorcyclist was either stopped or slowing for the stopped vehicles. Lyons was behind the motorcyclist and failed to stop, triggering a six-vehicle crash.

When Lyons attempted to stop his Ford Econoline van, he slid sideways into a BMW motorcycle driven by Matthew Frank, then Lyon hit a Ford Explorer, according to a news release from Rogers police. The Explorer traveled across the intersection and hit a Kia Sportage in the north lane. Lyons’ vehicle also hit a Toyota 4Runner and a Chevrolet Silverado during the incident, according to the Rogers release.

Lyons’ vehicle hit the rear of the motorcycle and the motorcycle hit the Chevrolet Silverado, according to the preliminary Arkansas State Police account of the incident.

Frank, 42, died in the wreck, according to the State Police preliminary report from August. Reports listed different hometowns for Frank. Lyons and Stephen Strope, then 45, of Rogers, were injured, according to the State Police report. Strope was the driver of the Ford Explorer, according to the report.

Lyons told police he saw the other vehicles but thought they were moving, according to the affidavit.

Police documents note Lyons has four previous arrests for driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, although only one was in Arkansas, according to an affidavit for his arrest.

Police requested an interlock device be installed on any vehicles he may drive as a condition of his release and a $50,000 bond. Lyons was was being held in the Benton County Jail on Wednesday with no bond set.

Lyons