By Ray King
A Pine Bluff man was arrested Sunday for endangering the welfare of minors after the vehicle he was a passenger in was involved in an accident.
Police said Derriek Eackles, 39, had a strong odor of intoxicants and was holding two beer cans and a bottle of an alcoholic beverage when he got out of the vehicle and was confronted by Sheriff’s Investigator Kaylon McDaniel.
Reading from a probable cause affidavit from Pine Bluff Police Detective Natalie McCool during a court hearing Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Beth Carson said McDaniel was on West Pullen Street at about 8:20 p.m. when he saw an SUV traveling west at a high rate of speed. McDaniel lost sight of the vehicle when it rounded the curve onto Rhinehart Road but then encountered an accident that also involved a motorcycle.
Lakesha Smith, 41, was the driver of the SUV and both she and Eackles had a strong odor of intoxicants, the affidavit said. Two juvenile females, one age seven and the other age three or four were in the back seat of the vehicle. One of the juveniles was Eackles’ daughter and the other was his niece.
Eackles reportedly asked that police not be called and then argued with McDaniel and yelled at other people who were at the accident scene and offered to pay for the damage. Smith told police she did not see the motorcycle because she was nearsighted and was not wearing her glasses.
Carson said Smith was taken to the White Hall Police Department for a breath-alcohol test which produced a .197 result, and prosecutors will pursue a DWI charge against her.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $5,000 bond for Eackles Tuesday after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with endangering the welfare of a minor. He was ordered to have no contact with the two juveniles until the case is settled. Smith was released on that allegation pending further investigation.
