BENTONVILLE -- A Henderson, Nev., woman apologized for endangering the lives of police officers and motorists in a pursuit involving several law enforcement agencies.
Sharon Newman, 43, was sentenced to three years in the Arkansas Department of Correction after she pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to first-degree terroristic threatening and fleeing by vehicle with extreme indifference, both Class D felonies. The plea was under an agreement Newman's attorney, Rachel Stills, reached with Elizabeth Castleman, deputy prosecutor.
Newman was arrested May 15. Bentonville police received a 911 call at 1:33 a.m. May 15 saying Newman showed a firearm to another person and then drove away. Newman was in Bentonville to meet an acquaintance she met on the Internet, according to court documents.
Bentonville police were able to find Newman's car, but Newman failed to stop for police. Police followed the car outside of Bentonville, and the pursuit continued on Interstate 49 into Washington County, according to court documents. Newman eventually wrecked in Fayetteville.
Newman admitted in court to her role in the police pursuit and the terroristic threatening. She read a lengthy letter in apologizing to area police agencies, people who could have been harmed and her family. She also apologized to the woman and children connected to the terroristic threats.
Circuit Judge Brad Karren sentenced Newman. She will have to abide by a suspended sentence agreement for three years after her release from prison. Newman received 166 days of jail credit for the time she spent in the Benton County Jail awaiting her trial.
She must pay $1,920 in court associated costs.
NW News on 09/18/2015