Six Pine Bluff police officers, including Assistant Chief Ivan Whitfield, were recognized for their performance of duty during the monthly Coffee with the Chiefs program, sponsored by Interested Citizens for Voter Registration last week.
Whitfield was in the area of 31st Avenue and Hazel Street on May 12 when he saw a vehicle flee from the area at a high rate of speed after a reported robbery, according to a memo from Capt. Kelvin Hadley to Chief Jeff Hubanks.
“Through his many years of experience, he felt that something was not right,” Hadley said in the memo. “Assistant Chief Whitfield called in to MECA and gave a description of the vehicle and the direction in which it was headed.”
Office Katesha Johnson said in a report that she responded to a reported robbery at 3100 S. Hazel St., and she got behind Whitfield, who was following a small red truck with two men in the front and one in the back. She said she turned on her blue lights and siren and the vehicle stopped at West 30th Avenue and Ash Street.
One of the suspects got out of the back of the truck and was arrested by Officer Jarrell Johnson while Katisha Johnson and other officers arrested the two men in the truck.
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Hadley said in the memo that the three men had stolen items from the business and were caught within 10 minutes “thanks to the quick response and thinking of Assistant Chief Whitfield and Officers Jarrell and Katisha Johnson.”
A second memo recognizes Lt. Denise Richardson, Lt. Donna Fratesi and Officer Jalyndria Murry for their actions after a reported armed disturbance on May 13.
The initial call indicated that one person may have been shot and that the suspects were leaving in a green passenger car.
Fratesi and Murry were the first to respond to the scene to speak to the witnesses and victim, who was bleeding from being beaten with a handgun.
As they were gathering information, Richardson was responding and located the vehicle with two suspects in it at West 26th Avenue and Main Street.
The vehicle was stopped and the suspects patted down and cuffed for officer safety. Richardson reported seeing a jar containing suspected marijuana and a black revolver in the front passenger seat where one of the suspects was sitting.
The two men were arrested on multiple felony charges.
“This was a great effort of working together by the patrol division and the detective office,” Hadley said in the memo. “They were able to put out the description of the vehicle, the suspects and the crime, and within minutes after the offense occurred, there were two suspects in custody.”