By Ray King
A $150,000 bond was set Friday for a Pine Bluff man with a lengthy criminal history who was arrested Thursday after he fled from a traffic accident on Olive Street.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Andre Heard, 38, with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and felony fleeing.
During the court hearing, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jill Reed said that at about 1 p.m., Thursday, a Pine Bluff Police Officer was on patrol in the area of 24th Avenue and Olive Street when he saw a Gold Lincoln with damage to the passenger side of the vehicle and the front bumper was detached and lying on the parking lot of a nearby car wash.
The pursuit continued west to Barraque Street then to West Short 3rd where the vehicle stopped.
Reed said when police inventoried the vehicle before releasing it to a wrecker, they found a baggie in the driver’s side door pocket which contained pills weighing a total of 14.2 grams that tested positive for MDMA (Ecstasy).
Heard has multiple prior felony convictions dating back to 1993 and just got off probation stemming from a 2019 case. He was also accused of driving 60-miles-per-hour on Cherry Street and being involved in an accident that resulted in the death of the other driver. That case ended with a directed verdict.
He was told to come back to court May 2.
