03/07/16   Thornton Man And Bearden Man Face Criminal Charges

A couple area men have had criminal charges filed against them in Ouachita County Circuit Court in Camden.

Nineteen year old Blaze Michael Burdine of Thornton has been charged in court with endangerment of a minor and fleeing in a vehicle, causing danger.

The incident occurred in November of last year when Deputy City Marshall Gary Floyd of Bearden encountered Burdine driving on the wrong side of the road. Floyd attempted to make a traffic stop but Burdine fled, reaching speeds up to 84 miles per hour in the city limits of Bearden. Burdine finally ended up on highway 79 north, heading for Fordyce. Thornton City Marshall Tommy Stringfellow attempted to blockade the road near Thornton but Burdine drove onto the median and headed south on 79. Stringfellow pursued Burdine on Calhoun County Road 85, where Burdine fled his vehicle into some woods and was later apprehended.

 According to the police report, the juveniles in the vehicle were runaways and told police that they and Burdine had smoked dope about an hour before the incident. In addition, Burdine was charged with theft of a vehicle and possession of meth in connection with another incident that occurred in Bearden in December.

In another case, Michael Doherty of Bearden has been charged in Circuit Court in Camden with breaking and entering. The charge is the result of Doherty allegedly breaking into a storage shed at the residence on Ouachita 83, just outside Bearden.

Doherty is alleged to have taken a box of things that had been purchased at an estate sale. Doherty claimed the merchandise was his and had stashed the merchandise at the residence because it was too heavy to carry.

Deputy prosecutor R. Jeffrey Sawyer filed the charges against Burdine and Doherty in circuit court March 2.