A silver Toyota Avalon carrying six people passed an Arkansas State Police trooper at roughly 120 mph on a Hot Springs road with its headlights off. Minutes later, it was mangled against a culvert.
Five passengers survived, but all were injured. Four were juveniles. One girl suffered a traumatic brain injury so severe that she remained in an induced coma for two months.
The 18-year-old accused of driving, Kaleb Jeremy Paul O’Loughlin, was badly hurt himself. More than five months after the April 18 crash, prosecutors filed five counts of first-degree battery and a felony fleeing charge against him.
The case also reaches backward. When the crash happened, O’Loughlin was already free on bond in a separate Hot Spring County burglary prosecution stemming from an incident when he was 17.
Coming Fast
The pursuit began shortly after 11 p.m. April 18, according to a probable cause affidavit described by Arkansas Breaking News.
Arkansas State Police Trooper Richard Davis wrote that Hot Springs police had been pursuing the silver Toyota Avalon before ending their pursuit near MLK Boulevard and Airport Road. The affidavit did not identify why Hot Springs police initially tried to stop the car.
Davis encountered it moments later.
The Avalon passed him in the 2100 block of Airport Road heading west at an estimated 120 mph without its headlights on, the affidavit said.
Davis activated his emergency lights and siren and followed.
The Avalon ran a red light and again approached roughly 120 mph near U.S. Highway 70 West and Adam Brown Road. On a curve near Dusty Lane, Davis wrote, the car nearly collided head-on with an eastbound vehicle.
Then it left the roadway.
The Toyota struck a culvert at a private driveway in the 4100 block of Highway 70 West.
Four people, including O’Loughlin, were thrown from the car. An 18-year-old passenger became trapped in the rear floorboard.
A citation written by Davis recorded a radar reading of 105 mph in a 50 mph zone.
Five Passengers
The injuries described in the affidavit extended to every passenger.
The other 18-year-old was flown to UAMS for surgery with a traumatic brain injury, brain bleeding, and fractures to the back, right leg, and collarbone.
One juvenile suffered broken vertebrae and a cut to his leg. Another sustained a spinal fracture and facial cuts. A third suffered a fractured hip, collapsed lung, and broken ribs.
The fourth juvenile, a girl, was flown to a children’s hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
She remained in an induced coma for two months.
By the time Davis completed the affidavit July 30, the girl had awakened but remained in intensive care and could neither walk nor speak, according to the affidavit as reported by Arkansas Breaking News.
“It is unknown if she will ever be able to talk or walk again,” Davis wrote.
O’Loughlin also suffered catastrophic injuries.
An attorney representing him in his separate Hot Spring County case wrote in an April 22 filing that O’Loughlin was hospitalized in a coma with a fractured spine, broken neck, and traumatic brain injury.
Attorney Josh Hurst wrote that O’Loughlin was expected to require months of rehabilitation before he could perform basic tasks such as walking and talking.
Months Later
A district judge issued warrants for O’Loughlin on July 31.
A Garland County booking record published Aug. 14 identifies the Garland County Sheriff’s Office as the arresting agency and lists O’Loughlin as 18 at the time.
The arrest-stage booking information included first- and second-degree battery allegations, fleeing in a vehicle, and four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.
Those booking allegations are not the same thing as the charges prosecutors later elected to file.
O’Loughlin appeared by video in Garland County District Court on Aug. 17. Arkansas Breaking News reported from the court file that a judge found probable cause and set his bond at $150,000.
He posted bond and was released Aug. 23.
Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence filed the circuit court case Sept. 29. The filed case includes five counts of first-degree battery, one corresponding to each passenger, and felony fleeing.
Traffic allegations stemming from the pursuit were also pending separately in district court.
The circuit case was assigned to Judge Meredith Switzer. No defense attorney or hearing date was listed in that case when the charges were filed.
Another Case
O’Loughlin was already facing a separate prosecution when the Avalon crashed.
In Hot Spring County, prosecutors had charged him as an adult with aggravated residential burglary, theft of property, and criminal mischief.
The allegations stem from Oct. 13, 2025, when prosecutors say O’Loughlin and others kicked in the door of an occupied home near Malvern and took a PlayStation and speaker. O’Loughlin was 17 at the time.
A judge granted him a $5,000 signature bond in November. The original conditions included an ankle monitor and house arrest, according to Arkansas Breaking News’ review of the court file.
An agreed order the following month removed the ankle monitor while leaving the remaining bond conditions in place.
That burglary case had been scheduled for trial May 21, about a month after the Highway 70 crash. Proceedings were continued following O’Loughlin’s injuries.
The Hot Spring County case is scheduled for a hearing Oct. 7.