Vehicle strikes deputy

Officer in chase suffers broken ribs, suspect escapes and is still being sought

Law enforcement and emergency personnel work the scene of an accident Thursday south of Gentry that involved a narcotics investigator with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office being hit by a vehicle as he chased a fleeing suspect. Officials said the investigator was after Mario Alberto Luna, who fled his vehicle after being stopped by officials following a chase on Arkansas 59. The investigator was transported to the hospital and released with broken ribs and other injuries.
Law enforcement and emergency personnel work the scene of an accident Thursday south of Gentry that involved a narcotics investigator with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office being hit by a vehicle as he chased a fleeing suspect. Officials said the investigator was after Mario Alberto Luna, who fled his vehicle after being stopped by officials following a chase on Arkansas 59. The investigator was transported to the hospital and released with broken ribs and other injuries.

— An investigator for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office is lucky he did not suffer more serious injuries when he was struck by a truck while chasing a fleeing suspect Thursday, said Capt. Mike Jones of the Sheriff ’s Office.

“He’s banged up,” Jones said Friday. “He’s got broken ribs and injuries to his shoulder and knee and lots of abrasions.”

The investigator’s name was not released because of the nature of his assignment with the narcotics unit of the Sheriff’s Office.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday when investigators stopped a vehicle along Arkansas 59, south of Gentry. Jones said he could not comment on the specifics of the stop, but it was related to aninvestigation by narcotics investigators.

According to a news release, one of the vehicle’s occupants, Mario Alberto Luna of Summers, ran from investigators. He crossed the highway with the investigator pursuing him.

There was traffic along the four-lane highwayand the investigator and Luna were struck by separate vehicles, according to Jones. Luna was able to continue running. The investigator required medical attention and was transported byair ambulance to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. He was treated and released.

Officers from the Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas State Police, Gentry and Highfill Police Departments and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office searched for Luna in the area of Dawn Hill, on the south edge of Gentry, to no avail.

Jones said authorities believe Luna fled the area in a stolen car. A 2002 Saturn was reported stolen, and the keys had been left in the vehicle, Jones said.

It was later seen in Durant, Okla., Jones said of the car.

Luna, 29, has short brown hair and is about 5 feet, 6 inches, tall and weighs about 160 pounds, authorities said.

Anyone with information of Luna’s whereabouts is asked to contact Jeremy Felton, an investigator with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, at 271-1009.

News, Pages 5 on 08/31/2011