Two Robbery Suspects Arrested In Arkansas Chase

Mon., Oct. 30, 1995

Associated Press

Two people wanted for armed robbery in Spokane were arrested Sunday after the stolen van they were in ran through a roadblock and was fired upon by the Arkansas State Police.

Treated at a local hospital after the wreck were the van driver, Gene E. Young, 29, of Denver, and passenger Wanda Springer, 27, of Commerce City, Colo.

State Police spokesman Wayne Jordan said the incident began at 8:06 a.m. Sunday when Cpl. Charles Harper stopped the van for following too closely. When the trooper discovered the van was stolen and that Young’s license had been suspended, Harper said Young apparently saw him getting his handcuffs ready and sped away.

Harper fired 13 shots from his .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun during the ensuing chase. None of the shots hit anyone inside the 1995 Plymouth van, Jordan said.

When Young went through the roadblock, Harper caught up with the van within a half-mile, pulled parallel on the four-lane highway, and fired three shots, according to Jordan.

He said Young lost control and the van overturned. The two occupants were pulled from the vehicle by police officers trailing the chase and the van caught fire and burned, Jordan said.

It was not clear Sunday night which armed robbery they were wanted in connection with in Spokane.

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