An Arkansas Waffle House employee was killed after a vehicle entered the restaurant shortly after midnight, according to the Maumelle Police Department. Police arrested the woman identified as the driver minutes later, and jail records now show she faces six charges stemming from the crash.
Officers responded to the Waffle House at 20514 State Highway 365 at approximately 12:25 a.m. on September 27. Police say a vehicle had entered the restaurant and an employee sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash.
Authorities initially withheld the employee’s identity while notifying next of kin, but provided an update the following day. Maumelle Police identified the victim as Tracy Long of Conway, Arkansas, and extended condolences to Long’s family, friends, and coworkers.
Police identified the driver as 34-year-old Ranisha Peebles and announced that she had been arrested following the crash. The department said Peebles would be held at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility as the investigation continued.
Driver Faces Negligent Homicide and DWI Charges
We were unable to embed the original Facebook police report, but it can be found at this link.
Maumelle Police charged Peebles with negligent homicide, driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a chemical test, reckless driving, and obstructing governmental operations. The department did not provide further details about what investigators believe happened immediately before the vehicle entered the Waffle House.
Pulaski County inmate records provide additional information, listing Peebles as having been arrested by Maumelle Police at 12:35 a.m. on September 27, approximately 10 minutes after officers were dispatched to the crash. The record identifies the DWI count as a first offense and lists the same case number, MUC-26-1282, for each charge.
The jail record also includes a sixth charge that was not listed in the police department’s initial announcement: open container containing alcohol in a motor vehicle. The record does not provide further circumstances surrounding that charge, and a refusal to submit to a chemical test does not by itself establish Peebles’ blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash.
Jail Records List $7,500 Bond
Peebles’ inmate record lists a total bond amount of $7,500 as a surety bond covering all six charges. The record provided lists no release date or time and shows no holds associated with her booking.
The record classifies negligent homicide as a felony, while the remaining entries include the DWI, chemical-test refusal, reckless driving, obstructing governmental operations, and open-container charges. The inmate information provided lists no disposition for any of the six charges.
Maumelle Police said the fatal crash remains under investigation and that additional information will be released as it becomes available. The department’s announcement does not describe the vehicle involved, what caused it to enter the restaurant, or provide additional circumstances surrounding the moments leading to the crash.
As always, this is an arrest, not a conviction. All suspects are considered innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.