A suspect from a homicide in Maine was reportedly found in Flippin early Sunday morning before he led authorities on a high-speed chase to Bellefonte and was shot by a Boone County deputy when he presented a rifle. Twenty-year-old Spridal P. Hubiak of Waterville, Maine, is being treated at Cox Medical Center South in Springfield and is expected to survive his injuries.
According to the Arkansas State Police, Flippin police officers responded just before 1 to a suspicious vehicle call and located a male asleep in his vehicle. After identifying the subject as Hubiak, officers were advised he was wanted in Maine for a homicide occurring three days earlier. Hubiak then fled the scene.
During a pursuit, the state police and the Harrison Police Department deployed spike strips on U.S. Highway 62/412 nearly a mile east of the intersection with U.S. Highway 65. Hubiak turned onto Highway 65 and into the parking lot of the White Oak Station in Bellefonte. The vehicle crashed, and witnesses state Hubiak exited with an AR-style rifle in his hand.
A Boone County deputy reportedly fired at Hubiak and struck him multiple times. No officers were injured. Hubiak was transported to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison and later to Cox Medical Center South, where he is currently in the custody of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Special agents with the state police’s Criminal Investigation Division have secured Hubiak’s vehicle and the scene in Bellefonte. The prosecuting attorney will determine if the deputy’s use of deadly force was consistent with Arkansas law.
According to the Maine Department of Public Safety, Hubiak was an employee of a liquor store in Waterville, where another employee was found dead early Wednesday. The victim’s identity is being withheld by police.
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