A Baxter County man has been arrested for a pursuit that reached speeds of 90-100 miles-per-hour and then breaking into a woman’s home after he crashed his vehicle. Thirty-five-year-old Alan Christopher Whitman of Lakeview is facing two felony charges for the incident which happened Feb. 27.
According to the probable cause affidavits from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, the pursuit started at 1:44 that morning when a deputy initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle Whitman was driving in the Midway area because it did not have a license plate. The pursuit continued on county roads and Arkansas State Highway 178 between Midway and Lakeview until Whitman’s vehicle went into the woods, struck some trees and he fled on foot. At one point, while the pursuit was on Highway 178, speeds reached between 90 and 100 miles-per-hour.
Law enforcement searched for Whitman, but did not find him after he fled the scene.
During a search of his vehicle, they found a traffic citation written to him from the sheriff’s office six days earlier, a warning ticket from the Arkansas State Police written three days earlier and two bills of sale for the vehicle proving Whitman owned the vehicle.
Later that morning, a woman from the Lakeview area came to the sheriff’s office to report someone had broken into her home during the early morning hours. She said it happened about 2:00 that morning when he dog woke her up barking. She went to the top of the stairs and her dog had a man, later identified as Whitman, cornered at the bottom of the stairs.
Whitman asked her to call the dog off and help him because he was having trouble getting the door back open to leave. She said she would not and he needed to figure it out and leave her residence immediately. Whitman was finally able to get out and left the area.
It was noted in the affidavit, the pursuit ended very near the woman’s home.
Later that night, a car pulled in the woman’s driveway with two people. A male got out and yelled “I’m the guy that was here last night. I’m looking for my phone.” The woman demanded they leave her property, which they did.
The next morning, the woman found the phone and gave it to her daughter to keep. An investigator interviewed the daughter several days later who said the phone rang several times with the caller asking for “Alan” or “Alan Whitman.” They looked up the name on Facebook and the woman whose home was broken into was able to positively identify him.
Whitman is facing felony charges of residential burglary and fleeing. He is also being held on a parole violation and no payment of fines. His bonds total $20,422.
PREVIOUS ARRESTS
Whitman has two previous felony arrests in Baxter County.
In 2020 he was arrested on charges of first degree battery, unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime, terroristic threatening and possession of a firearm by a certain person, all felonies.
In that case, Whitman is accused of shooting another man in the leg and leaving him on the side of the road over a rumor concerning a female. Whitman had taken the gun from a residence he had stopped at before shooting the victim.
He was sentenced to 72 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections in a plea deal, but did not serve any time.
In 2019, Whitman was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault for firing shots at a victim. He was given 48 months probation in that case.
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