John Lews (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A Gassville man known for frequently attempting to outrun the law pled guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to five years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Fifty-seven-year-old John Leroy Lewis’ charges stem from high-speed chases last year.
Lewis is no stranger to hitting the gas instead of the brakes when he sees blue lights behind him. He has been pursued while driving various conveyances, including a motorcycle, SUV and pickup trucks. It is not unusual for him to continue some chases on foot after his vehicle becomes disabled, or if he finds himself with no options to continue running from the police in the vehicle.
THE CHASES
On June 25 last year a Baxter County sheriff’s deputy saw a car being driven by Lewis cross the centerline while turning onto Old Tracy Ferry Road.
The deputy knew Lewis had a failure to appear warrant from circuit court along with warrants from earlier incidents.
The deputy reported he turned on his emergency lights, but Lewis accelerated rather than pulling over.
Lewis was alleged to have been traveling at speeds in excess of 90-miles-per-hour on Old Tracy Ferry Road. The deputy reported Lewis was also driving in an erratic manner, including using both sides of the roadway.
The pursuit went back to Highway 5 South and onto Sycamore Springs Road and through the Briarcliff area. He was reported to have nearly struck two vehicles head-on.
At the triangle intersection in Salesville, Lewis turned right and then slammed on his brakes, causing the deputy to strike the rear of the car Lewis was driving.
The deputy was then able to pull alongside Lewis and block him in to prevent his escape.
Lewis proved difficult to deal with even after the pursuit had ended and when he kept refusing to follow commands, a stun gun was used to bring him under control.
After he had been placed in a deputy’s patrol car, Lewis complained he was having a heart attack. EMT’s assessed Lewis and said he did not appear to be having any medical issues.
He was then transported to the Baxter County Jail.
APRIL 2O23
The chase in April last year involved two law enforcement agencies and charges were filed against Lewis by both the City of Mountain Home and Baxter County based on the single event.
It began when a Mountain Home police officer reported seeing a Dodge Durango not using turn signals. The officer then saw the driver hiding his face behind his arm.
The suspect vehicle then ran a stop sign, and the officer turned on his emergency lights to signal the driver to pull over.
But the driver, later identified as Lewis, did not stop and began traveling at a high rate of speed. During the chase, Lewis was reported to have forced multiple vehicles to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Lewis got onto Arkansas Highway 5 North, and the pursuit by the Mountain Home officer was terminated because of weather conditions and a heavy volume of traffic. After being informed MHPD had terminated the pursuit in the city, a Baxter County Sheriff’s deputy saw the suspect vehicle pull into a driveway and pull around to the rear of a vacant house located in an area along County Road 13.
The deputy drove behind Lewis’ vehicle and activated his emergency lights. Lewis accelerated, drove across the property, into a ditch and then onto County Road 13.
Because of the damage sustained when Lewis drove the Durango through the ditch, it was continuously losing speed. At one point, it was reported the “chase” had slowed to an eight-mile-an-hour crawl.
While the speed of the chase had been reduced, Lewis was reported to have been putting other motorists in danger by driving his vehicle down the middle of the road, causing oncoming traffic to exit the roadway to avoid a collision.
An Arkansas State Police trooper was eventually able to get in front of Lewis’ vehicle and stop it.
Lewis was taken into custody and officers searched the Durango. They found seven Alprazolam pills, a plastic bag containing a white power residue field-testing positive for methamphetamine and a set of digital scales.
Charges filed against Lewis in his most recent cases include fleeing, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, reckless driving and several other traffic violations,
LONG TIME HISTORY
The first criminal case opened on Lewis goes back to 1998.
In late 2020, Lewis rammed his motorcycle into a Baxter County Sheriff’s patrol car in an effort to avoid being arrested. He was reported to have suffered a broken leg and arm from the crash.
He had syringes in his pocket, one of which Lewis was alleged to have admitted was loaded with methamphetamine.
In December 2019, a Mountain Home police officer got behind Lewis who was driving a black Ford Pickup.
The officer reported the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and running multiple stop signs until pulling into the Ozark Shopping Center parking lot.
Lewis was then reported to have jumped out of the vehicle and began running toward what was then the Mountain Home Motel. He was arrested in fairly short order.
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