Suspected mail thief in Arkansas who led police on a high-speed chase to remain in jail, judge decides

Judge says he poses danger, flight risk after he fled authorities

A Little Rock man indicted for theft of mail will have to stay in jail pending the resolution of his case after a federal magistrate judge ruled that he poses too great a danger to the community and too much of a flight risk to be allowed free on bond.

U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray ruled Monday that Kobe Powell, 24, will have to remain in jail on charges of possession of stolen mail after U.S. Attorney Jana Harris showed police video of a June 6 chase on Chenal Parkway onto Interstate 630 that ended in a neighborhood along John Barrow Road when Powell was forced into a dead end and fled into a wooded area where he was apprehended by Arkansas State Police. During the chase, Powell was clocked driving at speeds up to 90 miles per hour.

At one point on the video, after Powell is spotted by state troopers, one can be heard telling him, "If you don't show me your hands I will shoot you in the face," just before he surrendered.

Robert Shields, a U.S. Postal Service special agent, described the investigation and testified that on July 18, Powell and James Miller, 26, of Little Rock, were involved in a police chase after Powell was seen breaking into a mail receptacle on Huron Lane in Little Rock.

When officers attempted to approach them, the affidavit said, the two fled in a black Ford Crown Victoria, leading police on a brief chase that ended a short distance away when they crashed into a residence at 1510 Breckenridge Dr.

The pair were arrested when they emerged from behind a neighboring residence where police found a Glock pistol equipped with a "Glock switch" mechanism to convert the pistol to automatic fire and an extended magazine. Inside the car, the affidavit said, officers found a postal service tub of the type found inside collection boxes and a quantity of stolen mail from other collection boxes.

Powell, along with Miller, Byrannia Burks, 20; and Eshawn Tucker, 21; all of Little Rock, have been charged by a grand jury with possession of stolen mail. Tucker and Burks were also charged with unlawful possession of a mail receptacle key.

Miller, Powell and Tucker were all previously charged in criminal complaints filed July 18. All three, along with Burks, were subsequently indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury in Little Rock. Powell appeared in court Friday for arraignment and Miller, Tucker and Burks will be arraigned by Judge Ray later this month.


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