By Ray King
A $100,000 cash only bond was set Monday for a Pine Bluff man who is currently out on bond on charges including first-degree murder after he led police on a high-speed chase Saturday driving a car that had been reported stolen at gunpoint.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Clifton Westmoreland Jr., 21, with felony fleeing, theft by receiving, and criminal mischief.
Westmoreland is scheduled to stand trial beginning Sept. 13 on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree battery stemming from a shooting at the beach at regional park that resulted in the death of one man and injuries to three other people.
In the incident Saturday, Deputy Prosecutor Shana Alexander said at about 10:13 p.m., Detective Richard McCorvy got behind a 2014 Dodge Challenger that had been reported stolen at gunpoint Thursday and attempted a traffic stop.
Alexander said police located Westmoreland and took him into custody and went back to the car where they found a black cell phone and a Glock model 19 with an extended magazine that had been reported stolen in Pine Bluff in 2022.
When he was interviewed, he said he had paid someone to give him a ride and woke up in the hospital. Westmoreland said he would hire his own attorney.
