Pair ordered held without bond after Pea Ridge officer's death

BENTONVILLE -- The two people arrested in connection with the death of a Pea Ridge police officer Saturday had been held at gunpoint earlier that day by a man who accused them of stealing a check from his mailbox, according to court documents.

Officer Kevin Apple was killed Saturday afternoon at a Pea Ridge gas station when he was hit by a Jeep and dragged 149 feet, according to court documents. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Apple was a Pea Ridge officer for three years and had a total of 23 years in law enforcement.

Shawna Cash, 22, of Pine Bluff and Elijah Andazola, 18, of Bentonville were arrested in connection with capital murder. Prosecutors haven't filed formal charges against the two.

Local circuit judges Monday ordered Cash and Andazola held without bail in the Benton County jail.

Cash was driving the Jeep that hit and killed Apple, while Andazola was a passenger, according to court documents.

Apple and fellow Pea Ridge officer Brian Stamps heard an announcement about 11:30 a.m. Saturday to be on the lookout for a blue Jeep fleeing from Rogers police. They saw the Jeep at the White Oak station about 12:09 p.m., Michael Lisenbee, a spokesman for the department, said previously.

Apple was attempting to talk with the two when Cash accelerated backward and hit Stamps' police vehicle, according to the probable cause affidavit. She then accelerated forward and hit Apple, who was carried on the front of Cash's vehicle until she hit Apple's police car, according to the affidavit.

Apple was pinned between the two vehicles and dragged underneath Cash's vehicle, according to the affidavit. He was dragged through the parking lot, over a curb and almost to the intersection of Townsend Way and Slack Street, according to the affidavit.

Stamps fired at the Jeep.

Cash and Andazola were captured after Cash wrecked on Dartmoor Road in Bella Vista, police said. Cash was immediately detained. Andazola fled on foot and was captured a short time later in a camper on Pine Street in Bella Vista, according to the affidavit.

Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green issued the no-bail order for Andazola on Monday. His arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Aug. 2.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren ordered Cash be held without bail. Cash appeared in Karren's courtroom for the hearing. Her arraignment is set for July 26.

Karren also issued a gag order in Cash's case, meaning prosecutors, police and defense attorneys are prohibited from speaking publicly on the matter. Green didn't issue such an order.

Rogers police issued the bulletin concerning the Jeep after receiving a call that a man was holding two people at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Walgreens on Walnut Street, according to court documents.

Oscar Olvera said he believed Cash and Andazola had taken a check from his mailbox, and he started following the Jeep in his pickup, according to the affidavit. Olvera followed the Jeep to Walgreens and confronted Cash and Andazola, according to the affidavit. He said Cash was holding a check taken from his mailbox, according to the affidavit.

He grabbed the check from Cash and pulled his gun to prevent the pair from leaving the scene, police said. Olvera said he ordered Cash and Andazola to get out of the Jeep and when they were on the ground he put his gun back in a holster and called 911, according to the affidavit.

Olvera said the pair sprinted back to the Jeep and left; the two also fled from police, according to the affidavit.

Cash and Andazola said they had taken the check from Olvera's mailbox, authorities said. Cash said she was the driver who fled from Rogers police, and Andazola admitted being in the Jeep with her, according to the affidavit.

Some of Apple's family members and Pea Ridge police officers were in court for Andazola's bail hearing. Family members, Pea Ridge officers and numerous other law enforcement officers filled Karren's courtroom to the point that some sat in the jury box.