Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — June 9, 2025 — A Little Rock man is accused of leading officers on a high-speed chase while traveling on the wrong side of the highway, and threatening to kill others in Jonesboro.
While standing before Judge Tommy Fowler on Monday, 60-year-old Vernon Curtis was charged with one count of first degree terroristic threatening, one count of fleeing, one count of resisting arrest, one count of DWI, and one count of driving while license is canceled, suspended or revoked.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Jonesboro Police Department officers were sent to a hotel in the city limits regarding a disturbance on Aug. 5, 2024. The affidavit said the victim told dispatch that Curtis, whom they didn’t know, was threatening to kill them and police if they showed up.
When police arrived, they told Curtis to stop and show his hands, but instead, he ran and entered his nearby vehicle, the affidavit said. Curtis started the car but didn’t move it. At the same time, officers were ordering Curtis to leave the vehicle and show his hands.
The affidavit said Curtis then accelerated and later turned onto I-555. He was traveling north in the southbound lane while traveling at a high rate of speed.
Officers followed in the northbound lane while Curtis continued traveling against the flow of traffic. Other drivers had to move to avoid a crash. Curtis exceeded speeds of 100 mph, the affidavit said.
JPD officers continued pursuing Curtis even after he left city limits. Bono police officers used spike strips on the vehicle, but it continued traveling north.
All JPD officers, except a K9 unit, later stopped pursuing, but Bono police and Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office deputies continued. They eventually stopped Curtis and took him into custody.
According to the affidavit, a JPD officer later took custody of Curtis and determined he was under the “influence of some type of narcotic,” and took him to St. Bernards Regional Medical Center. A warrant was issued to collect a blood sample. Curtis was admitted due to medical issues he was experiencing, the affidavit said.
Officers later spoke with the original callers, who said they were in their vehicle at the hotel and that Curtis had been in the parking lot yelling. According to the affidavit, the victim rolled their window down, after which Curtis told them that if they rolled their window down again, he’d kill them. The victim told Curtis they were contacting police, after which Curtis told them that if they did, he’d kill them and the police.
A bench warrant for Curtis’s arrest was later issued, after which he was arrested and taken to the Craighead County Detention Center, which occurred June 6, according to online jail records.
Fowler set bail at $75,000 cash or surety. In the affidavit, Fowler noted Curtis had multiple previous failures to appear in court, was not from the area and was a “danger to the public.'” Curtis’s next court date is July 31.
