Deputy collides with SUV during multistate chase, kills elderly woman

A Holcomb, Missouri, man on probation for stealing a vehicle is accused of leading police on a multicounty pursuit Sunday in a stolen vehicle that led to a fatal crash.

During the pursuit, a Clay County deputy’s patrol car struck an SUV in Rector, Arkansas, killing its 84-year-old driver, Sadine Dixon.

The pursuit began mid-morning Sunday in Kennett, Missouri, and involved a vehicle reported stolen from Collinsville, Illinois.

Arkansas State Police reports stated the pursuit continued from Kennett to Campbell, Missouri, and into St. Francis, Arkansas.

Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said the vehicle, later found to be driven by Robert Huffines of Holcomb, led police onto a rural road northwest of town, then onto U.S. 62 south and Highway 139 east of Piggott, Arkansas.

At Holly Island, Arkansas, the suspect vehicle turned west and continued toward Rector on U.S. 49 at Hargrave Corner, Arkansas.

Miller, in a news release, stated one of his deputies spotted the stolen car at 10:35 a.m. near Rector on U.S. 49.

“As the pursuit entered the city, the deputy’s patrol car collided with another vehicle unrelated to the pursuit,” Miller said.

Dixon, according to an Arkansas State Police report, stopped in her 2008 Ford Escape on the shoulder as the deputy’s vehicle approached.

Just before 10:50 a.m., Dixon pulled her SUV back onto the road into the path of deputy Terry Burdin’s patrol vehicle, a 2011 Ford Expedition.

Dixon’s SUV overturned, throwing her from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Burdin was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were described as not life-threatening.

Miller said the police pursuit continued into Paragould, Arkansas.

Miller said the pursuit ended at 11:01 a.m. when the stolen vehicle collided with a concrete retaining wall outside a Walgreens at U.S. 412 and U.S. 49.

Arkansas State Police officials identified Huffines, 36, as the driver and Lea Mamino, 32, of Collinsville, Illinois, as the passenger. The vehicle was found to be stolen from Collinsville.

Huffines and Mamino, who authorities described as intoxicated, were arrested and booked at the Greene County Jail.

Miller said they were set to make court appearances in Piggott on a variety of charges related to the chase, including homicide.

At the time of Huffines’ arrest, he was wanted on an Aug. 29 no-bond warrant in Dunklin County, Missouri, for probation violation.

Huffines pleaded guilty to felony first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle Dec. 9. He was accused of stealing a car Oct. 13 from a Kennett residence. Huffines was sentenced to six years in the Missouri Department of Corrections and that he be placed in a 120-day shock incarceration program.

A probable-cause affidavit filed with Huffines’ tampering case shows he had another conviction for auto theft in March 2000 in St. Louis.

SEMO News Service and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pertinent address:

Collinsville, Ill.

Kennett, Mo.

Paragould, Ark.