A 26-year-old rural Baxter County man who was arrested in late August after he made an unsuccessful attempt to outrun a Baxter County Deputy’s patrol car on his black sports-style motorcycle appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday.
Jonathan Cole Smith, Jr., pled guilty to fleeing and a number of traffic violations and was sentenced to three years in prison.
In all, 10 felony cases have been opened on Smith – the first in 2018 followed by others in 2019, 2023 and this year.
In some of those years, multiple cases were opened on him. His charges have included fleeing, the possession and sale of drugs, being a felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault, terroristic threatening, endangering the welfare of a minor and making a “shank” from a metal mop handle while an inmate in the county jail.
Smith’s latest arrest came on August 26. A Baxter County Deputy Sheriff was patrolling in the area of County Road 27 when he saw a black motorcycle turn in front of him and accelerate to a high rate of speed.
The cycle, being operated by Smith, turned down a dead-end road, but did not get bottled in and was able to head away from the dead end by slipping by the pursuing deputy’s car and heading back the way he had come in.
Smith eventually lost control on a gravel stretch of road. When the deputy pulled up to him, Smith was reported to have been attempting to start the motorcycle.
When the deputy ordered Smith to lay on the ground, he complied.
Smith has been an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center since being arrested.
One of the most noteworthy of Smith’s cases stemmed from events in early 2023 when he barricaded himself in a residence along Cresswell Drive and stayed there for about four hours before surrendering to officers.
A woman and her young child fled the residence for their safety.
In that instance, Smith was charged with aggravated assault, terrorist threatening, endangering the welfare of a minor. He was also served with an absconder warrant from probation and parole.
The Mountain Home Police Department was assisted by the Arkansas State Police and probation and parole officers.
The Mountain Home Fire Department and emergency units from Baxter Health were at the scene on a standby basis.
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