PEA RIDGE — Three people are in the Benton County Jail after a one-vehicle accident opened an investigation into a drug-manufacturing operation in Pea Ridge.

The people involved in the accident Saturday evening yielded information about a drug-manufacturing business on McRae Lane.

Monday evening, Benton County Sheriff's deputies went to 183 McRae Lane to investigate.

When deputies arrived at the residence, a man ran out the back door. Pea Ridge police assisted deputies as a short foot pursuit ensued.

The man, Christopher Michael Christiansen, 30, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor fleeing, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, felony possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Also at the residence and arrested was Jenifer Dawn Sauerbry, 29, of Pea Ridge. She was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver or manufacturing with intent to deliver.

Discovered in the residence's kitchen was a one pot methamphetamine lab as well as various items of paraphernalia used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, according to the sheriff's office report.

The report states children lived in the residence, but they were not there at the time of the arrest.

They were located with a family member and subsequently placed into the Department of HumanServices custody.

Two customers of the couple were involved in the one-vehicle wreck Saturday on Arkansas Highway 72 near Jac's Ranch as theyleft Pea Ridge after visiting the McRae Lane residence, according to court documents.

Leroy Emery Parson Jr., 29, of Rogers, was the driver of that vehicle. He fled from the scene of the accident in which three people, includinga 14-year-old male, were injured.

Two passengers in the car said they had gone to the trailer homeof Chris and Jenifer in Pea Ridge to buy meth and two of them "smoked it."

A westbound driver on Highway 72 noticed the car being driven erratically and called 911. The caller was still on the telephone with a dispatcher when he saw the car leave the highway and hit a tree.

The driver of another vehicle stopped after the wreck occurred and offered first aid.

Landon Thurman, a ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and trained first responder, said he stopped to offer assistance, but instead was met with arguments and belligerence from Parson, who got out of the vehicle from the driver's seat and began running down the highway.

Thurman, of Centerton, said heoffered help to the man who told him to leave him alone. Thurman said the man ran away from the car and he followed him, Thurman told a Pea Ridge police officer who arrived on the scene where Parson was hiding.

Parson was arrested and charged with three felonies - three counts of first degree battery, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and endangering the welfare of a minor, and six misdemeanors - driving on a suspended driver's license for DWI, refusal to submit to a chemical test, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, reckless driving, careless or prohibited driving and no child safety restraint.

Ironically, what the driver stated as his intent - "to kill them all by running off the road and into a tree" according to a probable cause affidavit to obtain bond - caused injury to everyone in the car but himself. The three passengers in the car were injured.

Two were taken by Bentonville ambulance and another by Pea Ridge ambulance to area hospitals. After being arrested, Parson requested medical treatment. He was taken to Northwest Medical Center, where he was treated, then released to deputies.

One passenger, Jennifer Hall, was later transferred to St. Johns in Tulsa. She was pregnant at the time of the crash. The baby died that evening. Hall was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit.

A 14-year-old male was hospitalized. A third passenger, LarryCannady, was treated at Northwest Medical Center, Bentonville.

The investigating state trooper said there were no skid marks or any other signs of braking before the vehicle left the highway.

News, Pages 1 on 09/16/2009