Cross County, Ark. — Two Cross County Sheriff’s deputies were hurt during a high speed chase Monday afternoon when they crashed into each other.
Sheriff David West says it all started around 1:30 pm when one of his deputies spotted a stolen vehicle just west of Wynne. He says 21-year-old Robbie McKinney was driving. That deputy and others chased McKinney up and down Highway 64, passing through the Highway 1 intersection several times.
Virgil Marshall works in a store right by the intersection.
“Well, it was kind of hard to watch that and then take care of customers at the same time. It was kind of like, ‘I wanna see this but I want to take care of these people.’ You know?” he said.
Deputies and Wynne police were partially shutting the intersection down when one deputy who was making a U-turn collided with another. A Wynne patrol car was also hit, but no one was inside.
Sheriff West calls the crash a bad mix-up.
“You know, we’re put in these situations, and we have to make instant decisions every day.”
He says McKinney was eventually caught about 20 miles away just outside of Earle by a state trooper. That trooper clipped the back of McKinney’s car at Highway 64 and 64-B, causing the vehicle to spin out.
McKinney and the deputies who crashed into each other were all taken to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis. None of them are seriously hurt. Sheriff West is grateful his guys are okay.
“They live to fight another day,” he said.
Sheriff West says McKinney stole that car in the Shell Lake area earlier today.
He’s facing several charges including first-degree battery, criminal mischief, theft by receiving over $5,000, fleeing in a vehicle, aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer, speeding and reckless driving.
