A Florida truck driver was booked in Hempstead County after a pursuit involving a semi-truck ended on Interstate 30 near Hope, according to Texarkana Today. The outlet reported that officers said the truck struck two police units during the chase; no injuries were reported over radio traffic.
Victor Joel Colon, 29, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was booked Monday on three preliminary counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, as well as fleeing, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, the outlet reported. The Hempstead County inmate roster lists Colon under booking number 20260796. The charges are allegations, and Colon is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The account, based on radio traffic, says Arkansas Highway Police attempted to stop the westbound truck near Benton before the pursuit continued toward Hope. Officers reported that the driver tried to go around a Highway Police vehicle and attempted to ram it. Arkansas State Police joined the pursuit while the truck was traveling through Hope’s streets and took over as lead agency as it re-entered I-30. A trooper reported firing at a front tire, and officers used spike strips before the truck stopped near mile marker 37. The outlet reported that the truck had continued moving as the tire came apart.
A high-stakes issue beyond one pursuit
The Hope chase sits within a substantial statewide pursuit record, though available figures do not establish a trend or explain the decisions in this case. The Arkansas Advocate reported that Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar said troopers engaged in 553 pursuits statewide in 2024. He said those pursuits resulted in three suspect deaths and three civilian deaths, and injuries to nine civilians, 14 troopers and 83 suspects.
Other Arkansas cases illustrate different possible outcomes, but they are not direct equivalents. In a separate June 21 pursuit on I-40 in St. Francis County, NEA Report said a trooper deployed spike strips and the driver later surrendered. In another pursuit, on I-40 near Hazen in March 2025, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety reported that a trooper’s tactical vehicle intervention caused a pickup to overturn; one passenger died and another was critically injured. Those accounts show differing circumstances and consequences, not a pattern that can be inferred from a handful of cases.
Texarkana Today reported that eastbound I-30 was closed behind the stopped truck and reopened after traffic backed up. Its account does not establish why the initial stop was attempted or provide an official narrative beyond the radio traffic it reviewed.
