De QUEEN, Ark.-A man who has served prison time in Texas led law enforcement officers on a high-speed, two-county car chase early Friday, firing numerous shots at police before allegedly killing himself inside his wrecked vehicle east of De Queen.
Randall Wayne Jewell, 48, of Texarkana, Texas, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sevier County coroner. He appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body has been sent to the crime lab in Little Rock.
"The 9 mm weapon was in his lap. He had his hand on it," said 9th District West Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Chesshir.
Arkansas State Police investigators said Jewell was wanted on a felony charge of assault on a public servant out of Cass County, Texas. Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe said Friday there are no outstanding warrants out for Jewell, but in 2004, he was sentenced to 25 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on a charge of assault on a public servant. He said Jewell had also been arrested in Cass County during the 1990s.
Law enforcement officers involved in Friday's pursuit are relieved no officers or citizens were injured in the chase. Jewell's Ford Taurus was clocked at 100 mph, according to authorities. Jewell allegedly fired numerous shots at officers who were pursuing him before spike strips caused his car to spin out a mile east of De Queen.
"It was a very dangerous situation. Police in De Queen put the spike strips down to keep him from entering the city limits. With the time of day it was and the school traffic, it could have been a very serious situation. When a man starts shooting, you don't know what he will do." Chesshir said he did not believe any shots were fired by law enforcement officers.
The criminal investigation and traffic accident are being investigated by ASP and the prosecuting attorney's office.
The incident began about 7 a.m. Friday when Jewell allegedly pulled a gun on a person at the tourist information center and rest stop on U.S. Highway 71 near the Red River.
Little River Sheriff Gary Gregory said Jewell allegedly got into a verbal exchange with a man who was walking his dog. He said he was not sure what started the altercation between the men. Jewell then allegedly waved his gun out the car window at the man. The 911 call went to Miller County and was transferred to Little River County.
Law enforcement in Little River County found the suspect's vehicle heading north on U.S. Highway 71 and attempted to make a traffic stop. But the driver refused to stop and continued to head north at a dangerous rate of speed with Little River sheriff's deputies and Ashdown, Ark., police in pursuit.
Lt. Bobby Walraven with Ashdown Police Department was directly behind Jewell's vehicle and attempted to slow it down or stop it by tapping the rear of the vehicle as it headed toward the Falls Chapel community south of Lockesburg, Ark.
"I tapped the rear, and when I made contact with his vehicle, he started firing rounds through the back glass. He fired at least eight or nine rounds," Walraven said. "I backed off, we went through Lockesburg, and he fired at least two rounds at a deputy stopped on the side of the road."
Walraven said he has been in law enforcement 27 years and has been in numerous pursuits, but has never been fired at during a pursuit.
"We were afraid citizens or officers would be hurt. It turned out well, as far as I'm concerned. I hated he died, but that was his choice," Ashdown Police Chief Doyle Crouch said.
Crouch called the pursuit "stressful."
"I tried to pass him north of Wilton, and he drove into the left lane trying to block me. … We needed to stop him. Traffic was heavy on the road, and he nearly hit several cars head-on," Crouch said.
Jewell managed to get around the first spike strips near the Penny Hill community in Sevier County.
"He went by the spike strip and shot at the deputy," Crouch said.
The suspect then began shooting out of the back window of his car.
"He continued sporadically shooting at us," Crouch said.
De Queen police and Sevier County sheriff's deputies were waiting on Jewell with the spike strips as he neared De Queen.
"One way or another, it was going to stop. He was showing no respect for human life," Walraven said.
Meanwhile in De Queen, police were also blocking off intersections and telling customers at local restaurants to stay inside until the chase was stopped.
One Sevier County resident wrote on Facebook, "It was like something out of 'Smokey and the Bandit.'"
The second set of spikes, just a mile from De Queen, caused the suspect's car to wipe out.
The vehicle crashed into a deep ravine on the northbound side of the highway. The first officers to reach the vehicle found him the suspect dead inside the car with the gun in his lap. The car was impounded.
Walraven said he stopped his car on the side of the highway after the suspect crashed. The southbound lane was blocked, and Crouch's vehicle struck Walraven's vehicle because he was not able to pull over.
"Bobby had shut down, and I had to either take out a car with a family or swerve toward Bobby's car. I took his car, and I took off his door. It was minor damage considering it could have been a family," Crouch said.
Walraven agreed with him, considering the wild events of the morning.
"If all we have is damage to a door and a windshield, then we are doing alright," Walraven said.