A man appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division November 10 and pled guilty to charges stemming from his decision to try and outrun the police.
Thirty-seven-year-old Johnny Sprous of Mountain Home was pursued by police after his vehicle failed to stop at stop signs and crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic while negotiating a corner in the vicinity of North Cardinal Drive.
He was put on probation for six years. The plea was taken under provision of Act 346, commonly known as the first offender’s law.
The Mountain Home police officer who initiated the pursuit said when he became suspicious the driver was impaired activated his emergency lights and siren. The vehicle was also reported to be displaying a dealer’s “extra” license plate.
When the police officer attempted to stop the red Dodge Neon being driven by Sprous, he took off and proceeded to run multiple stop signs and a red light, passing vehicles in a no passing zone and traveling at speeds in excess of 70-miles-per-hour.
Sprous eventually stopped at an address along McClure Lane.
He told the officer he fled because he had an active arrest warrant and his license was suspended. It was also found that there was no insurance on the vehicle and that he had no connection with the auto dealer to which the “extra” plate had been issued and should not have been displaying it.
Sprous was charged with felony fleeing, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving and for displaying the “extra” plate on his vehicle.
The extra plate is to be used only on vehicles in a dealer’s inventory and only by the dealer, dealership manager and salesperson. The vehicle is only to be used to drive to and from work, for business and personal trips inside or outside the dealer’s county of residence, to transport the vehicle for business purposes or to demonstrate the vehicle to a potential customer.
Sprous has been free on $5,000 bond.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI