An innocent motorist caught in the middle of a Clay County police chase on Sunday morning died after a deputy struck her vehicle from behind, according to Arkansas State Police.
The pursuit of a stolen vehicle, which began in Kennett, Mo., had spilled into Arkansas about 10:30 a.m. when Clay County sheriff's Deputy Terry Burdin spotted the fleeing car on U.S. 49 near Rector, according to a news release.
Burdin pursued the car, but when the chase entered the city, his patrol car crashed into the back of a vehicle that wasn't involved in the pursuit, the release said.
The collision killed the driver, Sadine Dixon, 84, of Rector.
"It was an innocent victim who got involved in the pursuit by accident," state police spokesman Bill Sadler said.
Burdin was taken to a hospital, and Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said he was examined and released.
"He's doing fine, but he'll be sore and stiff for a few days," Miller said Sunday. "They looked at him and X-rayed him. Everything looks fine. He'll take a few days to relax."
Several law enforcement agencies joined the chase after the deadly wreck, and the stolen vehicle eventually crashed into a retaining wall outside a Walgreens in Greene County on U.S. 412, the release stated.
Police arrested the driver, Robert Huffines, 36, of Holcomb, Mo., and the passenger, Lea Mamino, 32, of Collinsville, Ill. The vehicle was stolen from Collinsville, the release stated.
Miller said Sunday evening that the pair would be charged with murder, but he said investigators had not yet met with the prosecuting attorney to determine which degree of murder. They will also be charged with fleeing and a variety of other offenses stemming from the vehicle theft and subsequent chase, Miller said.
Under Arkansas law, a person commits first-degree murder if in the course of committing a felony or in the immediate flight from the felony, "the person or an accomplice causes the death of any person under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life."
Huffines and Mamino were being held in lieu of bond at the Greene County jail on Sunday evening.
Dixon was the 396th person to be killed on Arkansas roads in 2016, according to preliminary figures from the state police.
Metro on 10/03/2016
