Denton road BP robbed, Police need your help!

On December 6, 2011 the Dothan Police Department Communications Center received a report of an armed robbery at the BP located at 2154 Denton Road just before 10:00 p.m.  The call was relayed by a third party, the business owner, who was called by the clerk on scene. 

 Officers responded to the business and spoke with the clerk who confirmed the business had been robbed by a white male with a rag over his face, armed with a large hunting style knife, demanding U.S. Currency. The clerk also advised the suspect was approximately 5’06 tall and 160 to 170 pounds, wearing a hooded jacket, black sunglasses and dark gloves. 

Police are asking anyone with information about the case or identity of the suspect to call the Dothan Police Department or CrimeStoppers 334-793-7000.

Oxford police identify suspect in killing at Papa John s (original story published 9-10-11)

Oxford police say Brandon Hawkins, shown in the driver's license photo

to the right right, is the man who shot a Papa John's Pizza employee in 

September. At left is an artist's rendering of the suspect, drawn from an 

eyewitness description.

 Oxford, Al.
Oxford police have identified the suspect in the September killing of a Papa John’s employee.

After three months of investigation, police Tuesday signed a warrant for Gadsden resident Brandon Hawkins.

Investigators said Hawkins, 21, is the man who – on the night of Sept. 9 – entered the Snow Street pizza shop, shot one assistant manager, assaulted another and stole cash from the store.

Barbara Exum, 56, died from the gunshot wound she received that evening.

Another employee suffered minor injuries after Hawkins struck her with his handgun during a struggle after he shot Exum, police said.

The warrant for Hawkins charges him with capital murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault.

Major Crimes Investigator Dewitt Ashley said Hawkins hasn’t been arrested yet; police believe the Gadsden man fled the state sometime after his crime and remains outside of Alabama.

But Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge said it’s “just a matter of time” before police catch Hawkins and take him into custody.

Once the warrant for Hawkins is entered into the National Crime Information Center – an online database of criminal justice information – his name will be flagged for any officer across the country to view.

“Any time he gets stopped for something, he’s caught if he gives his name,” Partridge said.

Asked if he had an indication of Hawkins’ whereabouts, the Oxford chief said he could only publicly note that Hawkins was not in Alabama.

Investigator Jason Webb, a member of Oxford’s special investigations division, said his five-investigator team now will shoulder the task of helping to locate Hawkins.

It was Ashley, with help from Webb, who for the past three months has dedicated all of his efforts to finding out the suspect’s identity.

Ashley said he has worked only the Papa John’s murder-robbery case since he first set foot onto the September crime scene.

Webb, too, has spent time out of every day since then helping Ashley chase down leads and interview people who said they had information.

“And it’s been on my mind every day since Sept. 9,” Partridge added.

When Oxford police first responded to the pizza shop that night, they had little to work with.

After a week of investigation, investigators still only had a sketch drawing to approximate the suspect’s features and a vague description of a young black man with close-cropped hair, a slight build, wide shoulders and a raspy voice.

After a month and no promising suspect leads, Gov. Robert Bentley’s office and Papa John’s both publicly offered rewards to anyone with information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the case.

Finally, three days later, someone came forward with Brandon Hawkins’ name.

Partridge said he couldn’t currently discuss whether the award money played a part in that revelation or whether the person who first identified Hawkins would receive any of the money.

But as investigators began to look into Hawkins’ background, they became increasingly suspicious that Hawkins was their man.

”We ran all the leads down, and it all came back to him,” Ashley said.

Investigators didn’t reveal specifics of their case against Hawkins for fear of jeopardizing months of work but said that on Tuesday afternoon, they had enough information to secure the capital murder warrant on Hawkins.

Partridge said Hawkins was on probation for a prior crime when the robbery at Papa John’s occurred but legally could not say what crime Hawkins committed. That’s because when the Gadsden man pleaded guilty, he did so as a juvenile offender, and Alabama law protects the identity of youthful offenders.

Partridge gave credit to Webb and Ashley for successfully obtaining a warrant for Hawkins, calling the pair “two of the best homicide investigators.”

The chief cited a police rule of thumb: The chances of solving a crime decrease significantly if a suspect is not identified within the first 48 hours.

“There was no sleep that weekend,” Webb said of the initial response to Exum’s homicide and the pizza shop robbery. “I can tell you I saw all of those first 48.”

Ashley, Webb and Partridge visited Exum’s family members Tuesday night to tell them about the warrant for Hawkins.

”It was like an early Christmas present,” Ashley said.

Partridge said he hopes the discovery of Hawkins’ identity sends a message to criminals.

”I want these people to understand that law enforcement isn’t going to stand idly by and let these individuals get away with it,” Partridge said. “We will spend every waking moment working … until we bring you to justice and take you out of society.”

Read our first story on this killing from Sept. 10th here:

Oxford Police search for suspect in pizza shop shooting death

One Pot Meth Lab discovered by Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Deputies

Tuscaloosa, Al.
On 12-3-2011, at approximately 9:51 PM, Deputies were attempting to serve a Warrant on Kenneth Ray Estes, 43, W/M, for Driving While Suspended, in the 900 Block of 44th Ave. East when they observed an active One Pot Meth Lab and Meth in the residence.
Arrested at the scene were: Billy Jack Colburn, W/M, 40 and Stephanie Carole Estes, W/F, 34, Both charged with Unlawful Manufacturing 1st Degree; Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Total Bond each: $118,000.00;
Kenneth Ray Estes, 43,W/M was charged with Driving while Suspended Bond $500.00 cash, Unlawful Manufacturing 1st Degree Bond 100,000.00, Possession of Controlled Substance $15,000.00 and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Bond: $3000.00. Total Bond: $118,500.00.
Agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force also assisted.

UPDATED: BREAK-IN FOILED:The Neighborhood Watchers of Phenix City, Al. bring crime to a halt!

Dominique Williams and Bryan Leroy Holmes

 Phenix City Police release names and Photos of suspects of foiled break-in.

Arrested: Dominique Williams and Bryan Leroy Holmes
Charges: Attempted Burglary in the 3rd Degree

 

Phenix City, Al. 

The Neighborhood Watchers of Phenix City, Al. foiled a break-in around 10am Tuesday morning on 45th street. One alert neighbor noticed 2 black males leaving a house where no one was home. As this neighbor called the police and gave a description of the men around the age of 40 driving a light blue Buick Skylark with a 57 county tag (which was also stolen) another neighbor followed the car and directed the police of its whereabouts. As the men approached the Summerville Road bridge they bailed from the car and attempted to flee, but were quickly surrounded by the Phenix City Police. Both men were taken into custody.   

Burglars strike over 30 boats on both sides of Mobile Bay in last month

 Mobile, Al.
More than 30 boats were burglarized in the last month along both sides of Mobile Bay — including 18 Monday night at the Fairhope Yacht Club.
On the Mobile side, a man and a 16-year-old male juvenile have been arrested, the man after he surprised a sleeping boat owner who pointed a gun at him, said Capt. Eddie Patrick, commander of Mobile’s First Precinct.
However, Patrick said it is unknown if other burglaries, including those in Fairhope, were related.
At the Fairhope Yacht Club, a boat owner discovered this morning that several vessels appeared to be damaged, said Commodore Catherine Cremartie.
"The majority of it was sailboats," she said. In most cases, alcohol that had been kept on board and airhorns — "an odd thing to take" — were missing.
Cremartie said the Monday night break-ins were the most so far at one time but that there has been a rash in the last few weeks. Power cords, flat-screen TVs and electronics have been taken.
The good news from Tuesday night: "We do have video footage, which has been turned over to the Fairhope Police Department," Cremartie said.
Mobile police would like to take a look at that footage, Patrick said.
Along the western shore of Mobile, more than a dozen boats have been burglarized in the last month, mostly at the Alba Club and along Dog River, he said.
Last week, Kenneth Lackey, 25, of Mobile, was arrested and charged with second-degree burglary after he allegedly jumped on a boat at the Alba Club and woke up the armed owner, Patrick said. The juvenile has been charged in two or three cases, he said.
Power cords in particular have been taken regularly. "What they were doing with those was stripping them down and selling the copper," Patrick said.
The Fairhope club is continuing to review its security, Cremartie said, and talking with boat owners about installing alarms and security systems.

Immigration law: Farmers skeptical as leaders pitch possible labor alternatives

MOBILE, Al.
 The winter has brought a temporary lull in the farm labor shortage caused by Alabama’s tough immigration law, but the clock is ticking fast.
John McMillan, the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries presided today over a conference designed to help farmers find workers for their fields.
“I feel like I’m running the eHarmony show or something,” quipped McMillan, referring to the popular online dating service.
McMillan said he chose to hold today’s event at the Jon Archer Agricultural Center in Mobile because as early as January, the nursery industry in Mobile and Baldwin counties will be looking for laborers as the sector’s growing season begins.
“Our success or lack of success here is going to determine whether we do this same thing later in other parts of the state,” he said.
Farmers have voiced among the loudest complaints since the state’s immigration law took effect in October. Many growers have said that the law has scared away even legal immigrants who used to perform the manual labor in their fields.
This afternoon’s conference offered few new ideas, but leaders in several realms used the forum to push ideas that could expand the supply of workers available to the agriculture industry.
Those include the use of current and former prisoners; foreign workers on temporary visas and the unemployed. A local minister even pledged to help organize churches in the black community to match out-of-work parishioners with agricultural businesses.
“If we’re going to replace that labor force in Alabama, we have got to figure out a way to do it,” McMillan said. “I think the people we have up here are the best options.”
Several farmers expressed skepticism, however, that any of the initiatives would be sufficient.
Jamie Holland, who owns a nursery in Lucedale, Mississippi, said political leaders seem to not to appreciate the disconnect between a job and work. He said Americans are ill-suited to the type of work that migrant workers perform. Farmers need a reliable workforce, he said, not a constant churn of workers who stick around only a few days.
“We’re looking for a sustainable workforce,” he said. “The work ethic in the United States is the problem.”

Bill Atkinson, an agribusiness owner, asks a question during a forum

about Alabama's immigration law on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 

 

Holland is not affected by Alabama’s immigration law, but he attended today’s forum because he is worried the Mississippi Legislature might copy Alabama’s law.
Holland said he uses a temporary work visa program to hire seasonal migrant workers. But he said the process is onerous and costly -- $500 to $700 per man each season, not including what he pays in wages and a housing costs for the laborers. And he said he doubts the pool of available workers though the program is large enough to meet the needs of farmers in Alabama or Mississippi.
Phillip Barnhill, who also owns a nursery in Lucedale, said American workers want jobs that are permanent and offer opportunities for promotion. Farm jobs tend to be seasonal and limited, he said.
“There isn’t going to be any chance for any kind of advancement,” he said.
Those drawbacks have not stopped Alabama officials from trying to fill the gap, however.
Bob Brantley, Alabama’s employment services director, said his agency has collected résumés since October from some 500 people who have expressed interest in temporary agricultural work. He said those résumés are on the agency’s website, joblink.alabama.gov, along with about 800 people have expressed interest in agriculture work of any kind.
“It’s been a great while since we’ve reached out to the agricultural community,” he said. “We want to hear from you.”
Jeff Williams, the deputy commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, told several dozen people that the state has 2,600 inmates participating in work-release programs. He acknowledged, though, that few them traditionally have been in agriculture.
The U.S attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, Kenyen Brown, used Tuesday as an opportunity to tout a program he launched this year to encourage employers to hire ex-cons.
Brown said people coming out of prison – which is about 97 percent of the inmates who are incarcerated – need housing, drug treatment and jobs.
“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about. Jobs are very important,” he said.
Brown said if farmers – and other employers – give ex-cons a chance, they can help themselves and society at the same time. The vast majority of former prisoners who maintain steady jobs turn away from crime, he said.
While Alabama’s immigration law has gained the most attention, changes in federal law will impact the agriculture and related industries, as well. Soon, employers across the country will be required to use the federal E-Verify system and maintain detailed records to ensure that their employees are citizens or legal immigrants.
Chris Francis, who owns Chris Francis Landscapes in Daphne, said he has few immigrants on staff and does not use temporary labor. As a result, the state immigration law is mostly a non-issue. But he said he E-Verify requirements mean more red tape.
“My mom and my dad work for me, and I’m going to have to E-Verify both of them,” he said.
As for the Alabama law, one person in the audience asked McMillan what the cost will be if the state cannot figure out a workable way to address the labor shortages it has caused.
McMillan answered that he does not have a figure. “It’s going to be a substantial economic impact in Alabama,” he said.

New Alabama Education Association chief sends his children to private school

MONTGOMERY, Al.
According to a report the new executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association sends his children to a private school in Montgomery for its religious education.
Political observers state that Henry C. Mabry's choice of schools could lead to a public relations problem. But they also say the reason he was hired should outweigh those concerns.
The AEA bills itself as the voice of public school teachers and employees.
Mabry last week was chosen by the AEA board of directors to succeed retiring AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert pending successful contract negotiations.

During their 42 years at the helm of the AEA, Hubbert and assistant executive secretary Joe Reed built the organization into a powerful political force advocating for public education and its employees, about 100,000 teachers, support workers and administrators. Both said they were unaware of Mabry's school choice, but were not concerned by it.

“That's a board decision,” Hubbert said Monday. “I'm satisfied with it.”

Former two-time AEA President Nancy Worley said she also was unaware of the Mabrys' school choice.

Mabry said the decision to send his children to Holy Cross Episcopal School is a personal faith issue. He said they are able to attend chapel, which is not available in public schools. “They get good religious teachings that falls in line with our family belief,” said Mabry, who lives in Montgomery.