A Bonanza man was arrested on Sunday, January 26, after fleeing law enforcement officers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol into Arkansas.
According to SCSO’s Captain Philip Pevehouse, the OHP chased a vehicle containing two individuals at around 8:30 p.m. The pursuit came off of I-540 into Arkansas, around the intersection of Highway 271 and Highway 253. A Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office deputy on patrol observed the pursuit.
​The pursuit went through the area of Brooken Hill and onto Highway 71 S in Fort Smith. As the vehicle was circling an apartment complex in the 3400 block of Duke, SCSO terminated the pursuit. Soon after the deputy saw the pickup truck stopped in the complex, he saw one subject running away from the vehicle. The deputy pursued the subject on foot and was able to place the person under arrest. The whereabouts of the second subject was not determined.
Additionally, Pevehouse stated that​ other units from various local agencies responded to the area to assist in the search for the second subject, but he was not found.
Ron Peerson, 49, of Bonanza was arrested and taken into custody by the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office. Peerson, the driver, was arrested on charges of fleeing by vehicle, fleeing on foot, and reckless driving.
Peerson told deputies he did not really know the other subject with him, and wanted deputies to believe the other subject was an armed escapee from Oklahoma. Pevehouse stated that none of this information can be confirmed at this time, and that there is no confirmation of any escapees from Oklahoma.
​Peerson was also charged with furnishing a prohibited article and possession of drug paraphernalia. Peerson also had a parole violation placed on him.
