JONESBORO, AR — (BrooklandNews.com) — June 20, 2025 — A former local basketball coach is arrested after crashing a golf cart and fleeing the scene, police say.
The affidavit says on June 8, Ryan Childers, 37, of Jonesboro, had been driving a golf cart at the Sage Meadows Country Club when Childers and six others were “en route to Childers’ residence to get more alcohol.”
During the trip, the affidavit states, “Childers began driving recklessly, prompting one female passenger to yell at him to stop. After this confrontation, Childers abruptly turned the golf cart’s wheel hard in one direction, then immediately steered in the other, causing the cart to flip. Two victims were ejected from the cart.”
Upon arrival of the Jonesboro Police Department, Childers and the golf cart were no longer at the scene.
Documents indicate that Childers was pinned underneath, and once freed, he fled the scene. Before later returning for his personal belongings, all before police arrival, “without checking on the injured.”
One victim reportedly sustained injuries to his head, right hand, and back. He was taken to St. Bernard’s Medical Center. The other victim reportedly suffered a broken ankle and fingers.
Ryan Scott Childers was booked into the Craighead County Detention Center for leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, which is a class D felony in Arkansas. Childers bailed out within hours of arrest.
Childers, who recently resigned, had served as the head junior high basketball coach at the Blytheville School District.
He is set to appear in court on July 31 at 8:30 a.m.