Izard County, AR. – On Thursday, officers responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident that included an injured pedestrian. The injured pedestrian was Corey Ferguson, who was found laying in a roadside ditch. Ferguson had first aid administered and was flown to University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences for emergency treatment, but succumbed to his injuries.
The driver of the vehicle was Alexander Blake Rouse of Salem, AR. According to witness testimony, Rouse and Ferguson had gotten involved in an altercation regarding previous driving arrangements; with Rouse in the drivers seat of a vehicle, while Ferguson held onto the steering wheel from outside the drivers side door.
Further witness testimony stated that, during the altercation, Rouse accelerated the vehicle while Ferguson was holding on to the steering wheel. The vehicle, with Ferguson holding onto it, traveled at a high rate of speed off of the roadway into the ditch, subsequently striking a mailbox, a driveway culvert, and then another driveway culvert. Witnesses stated that Rouse continued driving for approximately four hundred yards before stopping the vehicle, exiting the vehicle, and fleeing on foot.
After arrest and investigation, Rouse admitted to having used methamphetamine less than an hour before this event, and had used it 6 times within the past 24 hours.
