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POLICE AIM FOR 'ZERO TOLERANCE' AFTER ACCIDENT

By Wilson Brown/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, September 9, 2004 10:52 AM CDT

ALTHEIMER -- Scraps of black plastic that were once part of the undercarriages of cars line the shoulder of Arkansas 88, just south of the Altheimer city limits and the town's library and clinic.

"Right now it's going to be zero tolerance," said David Wheeler, an investigator for the Tri-County Drug Task Force and a K-9 officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

After stopping his vehicle near the quarter-mile line, Wheeler was not talking about drugs as he looked at the numerous black tire marks that cover most of the two-lane road.

Wheeler was talking about street racing.

Authorities are now stepping up patrols for street racers after a Pine Bluff man died on that stretch of road Sunday night.

Eric Turner, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Turner, who was traveling south on his motorcycle on Arkansas 88, was hit head on by a Monte Carlo driven by Maurice Kemp, 26, of Pine Bluff.

Authorities say Kemp and Quentin York, 32, also of Pine Bluff, were street racing when Kemp and Turner collided.

Police say Kemp was driving north in the wrong lane when the accident occurred. Both lanes are now zig-zagged and brushed with skid marks.

The fatality happened near a white strip representing the quarter-mile line, or finish line, to the street racers, Wheeler said.

According to one resident, Sunday's fatal accident wasn't a surprise.

"Every weekend we have to try to drive through many cars and motorcycles parked all over the road," she said on condition that she not be identified. "There was one occasion when I was made to stop and wait until a race was finished before I was allowed to pass."

The area where Turner died is a quiet country road flanked by rows of crops. The only thing disturbing the silence of the stretch of road Wednesday afternoon was the puttering of farm machines in the distance.

However, Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons -- the usual days of choice for the street racers -- are quite different, Wheeler said.

"As if a 180 miles (per hour) wasn't fast enough, they put one of those (nitrous oxide kits) on them," Wheeler said.

Capt. Darrell Stayton, commander of Arkansas State Police's Troop E Highway Patrol Division at Pine Bluff, could not say Wednesday morning if either Kemp or York used nitrous oxide tanks to enhance their cars' speed.

Troop E, along with the Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigation Unit, are heading up a joint investigation into the fatal accident, Stayton said.

Since Wednesday, the Arkansas State Police has conducted 12 interviews.

"We're still in the process of collecting forensic statements," Stayton said.

Authorities are currently trying to identify and interview more witnesses before wrapping up their investigation and handing it over to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

According to Kyle Hunter, chief deputy prosecuting attorney, his office hopes to receive the investigation files by today or Friday. After reviewing the information, County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple will determine if criminal charges should be filed.

According to the Arkansas 88 resident, police have been called several times but "spotters warn the racers of their approach and the racers scatter."

"This is a very dangerous situation and it needs to be stopped," the resident said. "This time it was a self-correcting error -- next time it may be one of us trying to leave our driveway."

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