A high-speed pursuit of a stolen vehicle led to a two-vehicle crash Friday morning that left at least three people hurt, another under arrest and a block-long path of vehicle debris that shut down a busy central Little Rock street for part of the day.
Dozens of people gathered to view a Dodge pickup and a late-model Kia Sorento, which slammed into the pickup at high speed at West 12th and South Dennison streets. The Sorento flipped, then slid on its roof east and up an incline to a stop at 12th and South Park streets.
The Sorento, a small sport utility vehicle, left a trail of thousands of pieces of parts, bits of glass and a tire.
Larry Harris, 54, of North Little Rock, a deacon at Emmanuel Baptist Church at 3323 W. 12th St., was traveling west on 12th Street to the church Friday. When he saw the Sorento speedily approaching, he said,he eased to the side of the road and out of harm’s way. The crash unfolded in his rearview mirror.
The Sorento “literally flipped all the way down the whole block,” Harris said about the vehicle after it collided with the truck. “He had to be going 70 or 80 miles per hour. Three people got out of the van and ran - amazingly.”
Anderson Washington, 76, of Little Rock was at 12th and Dennison streets in his car, facing north with a clear view of 12th Street. He had just spoken with one of the occupants of the blue pickup, who was picking up some cans he had spotted along the road. The truck then stopped at the intersection, pulled up a little and stopped before entering the intersection.
A moment later, the Sorento collided with the truck, demolishing its engine compartment, twisting its frame and spinningthe truck around. Washington estimated the Sorento’s speed at 65 or 70 mph.
When Washington saw the speeding Sorento, his first thought was “I bet that car’s stolen,” he said.
Washington saw only two people get out of the Sorento. “They pulled the other one out,” he said.
The incident began at 10:20 a.m., when police officers spotted a Sorento at Asher Avenue and Maple Street and tried to pull it over. But the vehicle sped away and careened through neighborhood streets north of Asher Avenue and south of 12th Street. At one point, the Sorento was on Charles Bussey Avenue heading west before turning north onto South Jackson Street to 12th Street and then east on 12th Street.
The Sorento had 26 blocks, or 1.8 miles, to pick up speed on 12th Street before it reached Dennison. By that time, several police cars were following closely.
“It was a caravan,” Harris said.
The entire pursuit lasted about six minutes. The Little Rock Fire Department said it was dispatched at 10:26 a.m. to provide first aid and extraction equipment at the crash.
The driver of the stolen vehicle was identified as Lee Smith, 37, of Little Rock. He was charged with felony fleeing, theft of property, and hit-andrun, said officer Michelle Howard, a police spokesman. The other two people with Smith were released, she said.
The three people hurt in the pickup weren’t seriously injured, Howard said. Their names weren’t immediately available Friday.
A report detailing the pursuit and crash won’t be available until next week because the severity of the crash required an accident reconstruction team, she said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 02/24/2013