JONESBORO, Ark. — A Jonesboro mother is facing multiple charges after police say she chased her boyfriend’s vehicle at high speed with her 6-year-old child unrestrained in the passenger seat during the early hours of Sept. 19.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers observed a white minivan pursuing a black SUV at high speed on Nettleton Avenue around 2:30 a.m. The minivan’s horn was blaring, and the driver appeared to be following just a few feet behind the SUV’s rear bumper.
Police stopped the minivan on Kitchen Street and identified the driver as Liliana Araseli Avendano. Officers reported that her child, who was in the front passenger seat, was not restrained and was crying when they approached the vehicle. The child told officers that an earlier argument between Avendano and her boyfriend had led to the chase and added that Avendano refused to slow down during the pursuit.
When questioned by officers about her driving, Avendano said she had caught her boyfriend having an affair at a nearby gas station, the affidavit states.
Avendano is charged with felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, as well as reckless driving, following too closely, and a child passenger restraint violation, according to court records.
Judge David Boling set her bond at $2,500 cash or surety during a court hearing on Sept. 21. Boling also issued a no-contact order concerning her boyfriend, though the order does not restrict contact with her child.
Avendano is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 23 at 8:30 a.m. at the Craighead County Courthouse.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.