This might surprise some of this page’s eternal cynics about the “system.”
Imagine this: A man with a Hispanic surname allegedly drives a vehicle that has contact with another vehicle in traffic in Rogers. The man in the other vehicle, who happens to carry the same name as that of a late industrial baron who was one of the richest and most powerful men in the state, chases down the Latino, hits his vehicle with his car and forcibly holds the man with a friend. He texts the local prosecutor, his friend, for cops to come arrest the Latino. (Cops were already on the scene, it so happens.)
This really happened. Omar Salinas-Hurtado, 21, was driving the first vehicle. J.B. Hunt Jr., son of the trucking magnate and member of the trucking company board, was driving the Cadillac Escalade that gave chase. His text messages went to Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith.
And what happened? The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette provides details this morning.
A special prosecutor, Jason Barrett, was appointed. He filed a felony assault charge against Johnnie Bryan Hunt, 57. A court appearance was scheduled Monday, but was delayed to an undetermined date.
Salinas-Hurtado was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor.
Final chapter not yet written.