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NewsPaper Articles
Mountainburg
Dena Drabek Reports
Toddler killed in Mountainburg hit and run
Oct 10, 2005, 10:06 AM
A toddler is dead after a hit and run accident. Arkansas State Police say it happened around 8 p.m. Monday on Highway 71 North in Mountainburg.
Now investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding the driver who hit the child.
Police don't have any witnesses to the accident and they say it’s possible the driver may not have even known a child was hit. Investigators do have a description of a vehicle that was in the area at the time of the accident.
Police say it's a dark green, four door passenger car.
Police say the 18-month-old little girl was killed
near the 15 mile marker on Highway 71 in Mountainburg.
“The information we have is that the child wandered off from parents at that location and ended up next to the roadway,” ASP Sgt. Brian Davis said.
Police say no one witnessed the accident and the driver may not have even known a child was struck.
“They may have thought it was an animal, come back and check and the child was knocked from the roadway and wasn't visible, so they went on their journey,” Davis said.
Police say after the toddler's parents discovered she was missing a neighbor started searching for the little girl on a four-wheeler and found her about 20 feet from the road in a ditch.
“She was treated on the scene then taken by helicopter to St. Edwards where she was pronounced dead,” Davis said.
Now investigators are looking for the driver and hoping someone will come forward with information in this case.
“We want to find the driver and talk with them about the accident and find some peace for the family about what happened and how this accident transpired,” Davis said.
Anyone with information about the hit and run accident is asked to call Arkansas State Police.
Police and the Crawford County Sheriffs Office are investigating why the little girl was able to wander about 100 yards away from her home to Highway 71.
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Bail Set In Fatal Hit, Run
By Betsy Turner
Monday, October 10, 2005 2:57 PM CDT
Times Record • bturner@swtimes.com
Bond was set at $10,000 Friday for a Mountainburg man accused of leaving the scene of an accident where a toddler was hit and killed.
Lucky Luciano Crawford, 49, appeared in Crawford County Circuit Court on suspicion of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. The charge is a Class D felony, punishable by up to six years in jail. Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell found probable cause existed to hold Crawford.
According to a police affidavit, Crawford turned himself in Thursday morning at the Mountainburg Police Department. He told police that he might have hit a child on U.S. 71 in Mountainburg.
He allegedly struck 18-month-old Audrey Pense just after 8 p.m. Monday while traveling to a convenience store, Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune said.
Witnesses said they saw a car hit the girl, make a U-turn and drive off in the direction from which it came. Pense, who was walking on the road near her home, was pronounced dead at the scene. Crawford initially said that he knew he hit an object on the road, but thought it was a deer or something else.
He later told police that he saw the little girl’s eyes right before he hit her, McCune said. Crawford, who has no driver’s license, told police that he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. After being interviewed by Mountainburg police Thursday, Crawford was placed under arrest.
Crawford is also wanted in Florida on two outstanding warrants.
One warrant was issued Feb. 3 out of Seminole County, Fla., for failure to appear on a habitual offender of suspended driver’s license charge with a $10,000 bond attached. Crawford is also wanted in Clay County, Fla., on a probation violation stemming from a driving under the influence and battery on a law enforcement officer charge. The warrant, which was signed by a Clay County judge Oct. 10, 2002, states that Crawford violated the probation conditions by committing the offense of possession and display of a revoked drivers license in Orange County, Fla., on Aug. 31. 2002.
Crawford has a long history of arrests and criminal convictions in various states. He was convicted in Newport on Feb. 25 of driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance in California in 1988. His record from Indiana shows that he was convicted of burglary in 1981, breaking and entering in 1982, and two counts of trafficking in drugs in 1989.
In South Carolina, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with six years suspended for an assault or battery charge. He was also given three years’ probation. In 1973 and 1974, he was sentenced in North Carolina for several traffic convictions, including operating a car while intoxicated. He also was convicted on an escape charge from the North Carolina Department of Correction.
Man turns self in after child killed
BY LIZ BOCH
Posted on Saturday, October 8, 2005
Audrey Pense had never been able to open the door of her parents’ Mountainburg home.
The most the 18-month-old could do was wake up from napping on her father’s chest, slap him with her fist and say, "Come on Daddy. It’s time to walk."
But on Monday night, Audrey woke up, left the house and walked 480 feet onto U.S. 71, where she was struck and killed by a car.
On Thursday, Lucky Luciano Crawford of Mountainburg turned himself in to police in connection with the hit-andrun accident.
Crawford, 49, told police he could be the man who hit and killed Audrey. He was later charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, according to the affidavit from the Crawford County prosecuting attorney’s office in Van Buren.
It was common for Pense and her father to walk together after their naps along Scott’s 5-acre berry farm, said Verda Pense, Scott Pense’s mother. "This is the first time she had been out of her daddy’s sight," Verda Pense said. "She was a little country farm girl. The nearest mud puddle she could get in, she did."
Crawford is being held in the Crawford County jail. Circuit Court Judge Gary Cottrell set Crawford’s bond at $10,000.
The case is under investigation by the Arkansas State Police, said Capt. Steve Coleman.
Investigators don’t know how Audrey got out of her home after her father fell asleep, Coleman said. Her mother, a registered nurse, was working in Fayetteville on Monday night.
Crawford also is wanted on warrants from Florida, according to the affidavit. In June 2002, Crawford was sentenced to 36 days in the Clay County jail in Florida for battery of a police officer and drunken driving. He stopped meeting with his parole officer in September 2002, said Robby Cunningham, spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
A graveside service for Pense was held at 2 p.m. Friday at Pense Cemetery near Winfrey Valley, said Carol Gaither, Ocker Funeral Home director in Alma. "The Pense family is such a well-known Crawford County family. This was their only child," Gaither said. "It’s such a tragedy. I have three children, and I just cannot imagine that." Memorial contributions can be made to the Audrey D. Pense Memorial Fund at Arvest Bank, Account No. 0030756609. Verda Pense said more than 200 people attended Friday afternoon’s service. "Audrey never knew a stranger," she said. "I’ve never seen such an outpouring for a baby as this one. She touched a lot of hearts."
To contact this reporter: lboch@arkansasonline.com
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Not-Guilty Plea Entered For Hit-Run Suspect
By Betsy Turner
Thursday, October 20, 2005 9:00 AM CDT
Times Record • bturner@swtimes.com
The Mountainburg man accused of leaving the scene
of a fatal hit-and-run accident was arraigned
Wednesday in Crawford County Circuit Court.
Lucky Luciano Crawford, 49, is charged with
leaving the scene of a personal injury accident,
driving without a license and habitual offender.
Leaving the scene of a personal injury accident is
a Class D felony and is punishable by a sentence
of up to six years in prison and/or a $10,000
fine. Driving without a license is a misdemeanor
and could carry a penalty of one year in jail and
a $1,000 fine.
Crawford could face up to 15 years in prison
because he is being charged as a habitual offender.
Fort Smith Attorney Joseph Self entered a plea of
not guilty to the charges on behalf of Crawford.
Self requested Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell
consider lowering Crawford's $10,000 bond. Self
argued that the request should be granted because
Crawford had voluntarily turned himself in to
police.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Presley
said the state opposed the request because
Crawford was wanted on outstanding warrants out of
Florida. Cottrell denied the request.
According to police reports, on Oct. 3 Crawford
allegedly struck 18-month-old Audrey Pense with
his vehicle while driving on U.S. 71 in
Mountainburg and leaving the scene. Pense died of
injuries from the accident.
Crawford turned himself in to the Mountainburg
Police Department on Oct. 6 after learning that
police were looking for a vehicle similar to his,
police affidavits state. Crawford told police he
was traveling to a convenience store just before 8
p.m. on the night of the accident. He said he knew
he hit an object but believed it was an animal.
Crawford's wife said in a statement to police that
she and Crawford searched the area to find out
what he hit for around 45 minutes but did not find
anything.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 27, 2005
Last modified: Friday, October 21, 2005 3:29 PM CDT
Man pleads in fatal accident
by KENNETH FRY,
Press Argus-Courier Editor
A Mountainburg man accused in the death of an 18-month-old toddler has pleaded not guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.
Lucky Luciano Crawford, 49, also is charged in Crawford County Circuit Court with driving without a license and habitual offender.
Audrey Pense was killed Oct. 3 after she wandered away from her home and into the roadway of U.S. 71 North. She and her father fell asleep and the toddler awoke before her father.
The 1997 teal Mercury Tracer, believed to have struck the toddler, was recovered by police at a Fort Smith bar.
On Wednesday, Fort Smith Attorney Joseph Self entered the not guilty plea on Crawford's behalf and waived formal arraignment before Judge Gary R. Cottrell.
Self asked Cottrell to consider lowering Crawford's $10,000 bond, pointing out that Crawford had voluntarily turned himself in to police.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Presley said he opposed the request because of the charge and the fact that Crawford was wanted on outstanding warrants out of Florida. Cottrell denied the request.
Crawford turned himself into the Mountainburg Police Department at 8 a.m. Oct. 6. According to records in the prosecuting attorney's office, Crawford turned himself in after he saw television reports describing a vehicle similar to the Mercury and believed it would be located.
The suspect has an extensive criminal history, including an arrest and conviction for DWI in Newport, Ark., in February.
He has been in prison several times for burglary, theft and drug offenses, the report states. Crawford also has been arrested for rape and kidnapping. His criminal history includes offenses in California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana and Florida.
He attempted to obtain an Arkansas driver's license which was denied.
Crawford has warrants from Clay County and Seminole County, Fla. He is on probation for driving under the influence (DUI) and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Crawford allegedly violated his probation by possessing and displaying a revoked driver's license on Aug. 31, 2002, a copy of the Oct. 10, 2002, warrant states. The Seminole County warrant, issued Feb. 3, 2003, is for failure to appear for driving while license suspended.
Leaving the scene of a personal injury accident is a Class D felony which carries up to six years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. The habitual offender charge increases the penalty up to 15 years.
The driving without a license is a misdemeanor that is punishable up to six months in the county jail and up to a $500 fine.
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