A driver fleeing a hit-and-run crash in Greenbrier ended up airlifted to a hospital after rolling his vehicle and slamming into a vacant brick commercial building in Damascus on Thursday afternoon. No one was inside the building at the time, and the driver was the only person hurt in the wreck.
According to Arkansas Radio, the sequence began around 2 p.m. Thursday when the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office was notified of a hit-and-run crash in Greenbrier. Deputies soon spotted a vehicle matching the description of the one involved and activated their emergency lights, but the driver did not stop. The vehicle was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed and being driven recklessly away from the scene, according to authorities.
As deputies attempted to catch up, the driver continued passing other vehicles using the center and oncoming lane of traffic, per the sheriff's office. That stretch of road sits along U.S. Highway 65, the main corridor linking Greenbrier and Damascus, which according to Wikipedia runs roughly 10 to 12 miles between the two communities in northern Faulkner County.
Rollover Crash Ends the Chase
The vehicle reportedly struck a curb on the opposite side of the roadway before it overturned, rolled, and crashed into a vacant brick commercial building in Damascus. The driver was injured in the crash and was transported by medical helicopter to a hospital for treatment. His name and age have not been released.
Little Rock station THV11 reported that an unidentified driver was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital after the crash, confirming the emergency response that followed the pursuit. KARK also reported that Faulkner County deputies had attempted to intercept the suspect vehicle after the original Greenbrier hit-and-run report came in.
Damascus, a small town of 382 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, sits directly on the border between Faulkner and Van Buren counties in the Ozark foothills along U.S. 65. It's a quiet stretch of highway for a crash this dramatic, though rural Faulkner County — home to an estimated 133,979 residents in 2025 and the state's fifth most populous county — has seen its share of serious roadway incidents in recent months.
Expected Charges and Ongoing Investigation
The sheriff's office says the driver is expected to face felony fleeing, reckless driving, speeding, improper passing, and criminal mischief charges once he's released from medical care. Under Arkansas Code § 5-54-125, as updated by Act 734 in 2023, fleeing law enforcement in a vehicle while exceeding the posted speed limit is a Class D felony, and fleeing in a manner that creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury can elevate the charge to a Class C felony, per FastDemocracy.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the sheriff's office says additional information is expected to be released as it becomes available. Open questions remain about the driver's identity, his medical condition, the exact circumstances of the initial Greenbrier hit-and-run, and the estimated damage to the vacant building he struck.
The crash adds to a string of severe traffic incidents that have drawn attention to rural Faulkner County roadways this year. In June, a 24-year-old Damascus man was killed in a motorcycle crash on Highway 107 in nearby Enola after his motorcycle crossed the centerline, according to the Log Cabin Democrat. The following month, a 53-year-old Conway woman died after her vehicle left the road and struck a tree on Dave Ward Drive, Arkansas Radio reported separately.
