Two people arrested after alleged escape with dirt bike and ATV

Two Hot Springs men were arrested Friday on felony charges after allegedly fleeing from a Garland County sheriff’s deputy and an Arkansas State Police trooper on a dirt bike and an ATV.

James Dillon Haley, 27, of Cones Road, and Destry Dewayne Patton, 33, of Hot Springs, were both taken into custody just before 4:30 p.m. They were charged with hit and run, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison, speeding over 15 mph and failure to obey a stop sign.

Haley was also charged with the misdemeanors he committed: fleeing on foot, operating a motorcycle without a license, and improper headlights and taillights. He was also charged with reckless and unlicensed driving, failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle, and driving without insurance. Patton was also charged with operating an all-terrain vehicle on a public road.

Both men were later released, Haley on $3,500 bail and Patton on $2,500 bail. Both are scheduled to appear in Garland County District Court on July 15. Neither man has a criminal record.

According to the probable cause affidavit, just after 4 p.m. Friday, ASP Trooper Hunter Grubbs saw GCSO Deputy Eduardo Grajeda attempt to stop two dirt bikes and an ATV traveling on Westinghouse Drive toward McClendon Road.

Grajeda had his blue lights and sirens on, but the drivers allegedly refused to stop and ignored the stop sign at the intersection of Westinghouse and McClendon, so Grubbs “took the lead” in the pursuit.

He caught up to the two dirt bikes and found that speeds were reaching approximately 58 mph in a 35 mph zone and both riders continued to refuse to stop. When negotiating the corners, speeds reportedly continued to reach approximately 45 to 50 mph.

As the chase reached an intersection with a dirt road on McClendon Road, approximately in the 1000 block, Grubbs saw the dirt bikes slow to turn right onto the dirt road, at which point one of the male riders fell from his motorcycle to the ground.

Grubbs left his patrol unit and gave verbal orders before he too fell to the ground “due to the thick mud.” As Grubbs and the driver, later identified as Haley, both lay on the ground, Grubbs continued to order him not to move.

Haley is said to have looked at Grubbs, then stood up and fled on foot, “in complete disregard of verbal orders,” Grubbs said. She then pursued him on foot for about 13 meters before Haley fell to the ground again and was arrested without further incident.

At the same time, the driver of the SUV, a name identified as Patton, stopped, allowed Grajeda to arrest him, and complied with his arrest.

After being read his rights, Haley allegedly stated he was with “his new buddies” and admitted they all failed to stop at the intersection of Spring Street and Westinghouse. He said he heard the sirens and saw the lights behind him, but “he got scared” and fled.

When asked why he fled by car and on foot, Haley reportedly said he was “scared and didn’t know what to do.”