EL DORADO — Six-figure bonds were issued Wednesday in the 35th Judicial District Court for two men who were arrested on several felony charges for their alleged involvement in a spate of crimes that covered ground inside and outside El Dorado city limits and included reports of a child firing a handgun that may have been used in one of the incidents, law enforcement officers said.
Willis D. Johnson, 30, of 111 Kevin Lane, and Kenneth E. Clay Jr., 22, of 515 E. Seventh, Apt. C, were arrested Tuesday as part of joint investigations conducted by the El Dorado Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office.
The men were identified as suspects for their respective roles in a high-speed pursuit, drug arrest, home invasion and a shooting, all of which occurred within a span of about three hours on Tuesday and are believed to be linked to each other.
During first appearance hearings in district court on Wednesday, Johnson was issued a cash-only bond of $250,000, and Clay received $100,000 bond, cash or corporate surety.
Johnson was arrested by the El Dorado Police for two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and fleeing.
He faces additional charges for several traffic violations, including speeding, five counts of disregarding a traffic control device, and two counts of careless and prohibited operation.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office took Clay into custody for aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by certain persons.
Clay was also placed on a parole hold.
Investigators with the EPD and UCSO are still gathering information about the incidents, with a few new details emerging Wednesday. Both law enforcement agencies have said that more arrests may be forthcoming.
Police said Johnson is believed to be the driver of vehicle that led them on a high-speed pursuit through the streets of Murmil Heights just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
An EPD officer who was assigned to traffic enforcement to watch out for speeding near the Murmil neighborhood spotted the vehicle moving at a high rate of speed through the area.
The officer initiated a traffic stop, but the vehicle continued, spurring a chase that reached speeds of 75 to 80 miles per hour along residential streets. Police said the driver disregarded several stop signs during the pursuit.
Officers called off the chase due to excessive speed, and a short time later, they spotted the suspect’s vehicle at a residence on Lakeland. They then saw Johnson walking along another street in Murmil and took him into custody, according to a police report.
Police reported “a couple of bags” were tossed from the vehicle during the chase.
Officers said they returned to the spot on Lorene where the bags had been thrown and found bags containing a large amount of powder cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
The street value of the narcotics was roughly estimated at $100,000.
A woman who identified herself as Johnson’s ex-girlfriend told police that someone broke into her residence in the 2000 block of Lakeland shortly after she heard that Johnson had been arrested. She said a door had been kicked in, and the residence had been ransacked. She said a relative told her that he saw three males running from the residence. The witness also said the windows had been broken in three vehicles that were parked at the woman’s residence.
Capt. Kevin Holt, public information officer for the police department, said investigators are still trying to determine if someone else was in the vehicle with Johnson.
At approximately 12:23 p.m., police were called to a residence in the 2900 block of Parnell Road in reference to a residential burglary with an armed suspect.
Union County Sheriff’s Deputies were subsequently dispatched to the residence, which is just outside city limits.
A woman there said a man had come to the residence asking for someone named “Colby.”
The woman said the man left after she told him he had the wrong house, and he got into a vehicle that headed south, turned around and stopped at a house just up the street.
Moments later, two males wearing masks and gloves exited the vehicle, came to the residence and kicked in the front door, the woman said.
One of the suspects placed a handgun to her head and forced her around the residence at gunpoint, apparently in search of something. The woman said her child was home at the time.
She said the suspects fled the residence, taking several items, including her cellular phone. She said she then ran outside and got into the vehicle with two relatives who were driving past the residence.
The relatives said they had seen the two suspects running from the woman’s residence, and “they knew something was wrong.”
They said they then followed the suspects’ vehicle to Haygood-Neal Garden Apartments, 1315 W. First.
Approximately 10 minutes after the home invasion was reported, El Dorado police responded to a report of shots fired at Haygood-Neal. Witnesses said two men were chasing two other men and shooting at them.
Officers were later called back to Haygood-Neal after witnesses reported that a boy, described as “elementary-age,” had fired a handgun that he found behind a building in the apartment complex.
No injuries were reported in the shootings. Police said a total of three 45-caliber shell casings were recovered from the scene.
According to witness statements, the boy threw the gun over a fence and into the backyard of a residence that is adjacent to the apartment complex. Police said the gun was not in the yard by the time they arrived on the scene.
“That’s what was told to us. We’re trying to get the specifics on that. We were told that it was a younger child, and luckily, it left his hands, but due to the irresponsibility of other adults, the weapon has not been located,” Holt said.
Clay was identified as a suspect in the home invasion, and Union County sheriff’s deputies took him into custody later Tuesday at Haygood-Neal.
(News-Times reporter Nathan Owens contributed this story).
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.