Areawide Media photo
The driver of a stolen vehicle that burst into flames after splitting in two following a chase and a crash in Fulton County is wanted by Mountain Home Police.
Mountain Home Police Investigator Eddie Griffin says the vehicle 20-year-old Larry Tate was driving was stolen from a Mountain Home business. Baxter County Circuit Court records indicate Tate has a suspended driver’s license out of North Carolina.
Areawide Media of Salem reports the crash on September 29th followed a pursuit by Fulton County authorities. The pursuit began after a Fulton County deputy observed Tate driving erratically in Viola and crossing the center line of the highway. An unsuccessful attempt to conduct a traffic stop led to the pursuit reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. Once the chase started, Tate began passing traffic and driving in the wrong lane at times.
When topping a hill, the deputy observed flying debris after Tate’s vehicle hit a concrete culvert at a gate going into a pasture. The car was severed at the windshield, with the front portion of the car on the north side of the highway and the rest of the car on the south side eventually bursting into flames.
Tate was taken by air ambulance to Cox Medical Center South in Springfield.
The day prior to the crash, Administrative Office of the Courts records indicate Tate entered a guilty plea in Baxter County Circuit Court to a felony charge of theft by receiving in connection with another stolen vehicle.
According to the arrest affidavit, Tate was stopped by an Arkansas State Police Trooper on U.S. Hwy. 62/412 east of Mountain Home. The stop was initiated when Tate failed to dim the headlights of the truck he was driving for the vehicle in front of the trooper. A check of the vehicle license indicated the truck was reported stolen from Fulton County.
When the trooper asked for Tate’s license and insurance, he reportedly said the vehicle belonged to his grandmother, and he did not know the location of the insurance. When asked where he was staying, Tate said in a buddy’s truck. He then said the truck belonged to his buddy and his grandmother.
When advised the truck may be stolen and asked where his grandmother lives, Tate said he could not remember because she moves a lot.
Tate was sentenced to 72 months of supervised probation on the theft by receiving charge in connection with the first stolen vehicle.
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