2 Hot Springs men fleeing from police were killed in separate incidents on Arkansas highways
arkadelphian.com
This post has been updated to identify a suspect.
The first suspect was killed Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, in a rollover at the Highway 270 overpass at Interstate 30. He was identified as 25-year-old Michael Christopher Babb.
According to an Arkansas State Police fatal crash summary, Babb was “actively fleeing” from Malvern police west on Highway 270 and approaching the overpass when he lost control of the 2007 Dodge Charger he was driving and struck a guardrail, causing the vehicle to flip “numerous times” before it landed upside-down in the northbound lane.
Babb was ejected from the vehicle. His body was taken to the Hot Spring County Coroner’s Office.
In a separate incident, a suspect was shot and killed on the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.
Arkansas State Police announced the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division was probing a high-speed pursuit that ended in an officer-involved shooting, killing 35-year-old Aaron T. Watson, also of Hot Springs.
The I-30 pursuit, which began in Benton, ended in Little Rock near the University Avenue exit. It’s there that the suspect reportedly fired on police officers, who returned fire and struck the suspect.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
The state troopers and Benton police who were involved in the incident were not injured.
The suspect was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service and was driving a vehicle with fictitious plates.
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