Dothan woman uses vehicle as a weapon

Dothan, Al.
Leslie Louise Stone, black female, 39 years of age, of Daleville, Alabama was arrested and charged with First Degree Attempted Assault with a $15,000 bond.
 

Leslie Louise Stone

On March 6, 2012 the Dothan Police Department responded to an attempted assault in which the suspect used a vehicle as a weapon in what investigators are calling a domestically motivated crime. Police say Leslie Louise Stone used her vehicle to strike a taxi cab which was occupied by two people. The driver of the cab told police the suspect began following them on Foster Street driving aggressively and flashing headlights at the cab. The cab driver further stated it was the customer who identified the driver of the pursuing vehicle as his wife, telling the driver not to pull over because he feared she may be armed. The suspect continued to pursue the cab until the vehicles reached the vicinity of Haven Drive where Stone rammed her vehicle, a 2005 Lincoln LS, into the cab. Both occupants escaped without injury from this incident. Stone was taken into custody and charged with attempted assault.

FAA finds no records of flights that could have caused sonic boom in central Alabama

CHILTON COUNTY, Al.
 A review of air traffic records by the Federal Aviation Administration today found no records of any flights Tuesday afternoon that could have caused a sonic boom in central Alabama.
Some have speculated that a sonic boom could have been the cause of the loud sound that rattled walls across Chilton County and in parts of Bibb County Tuesday afternoon.
More than 100 calls about the incident were received by Chilton County 911 about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said if there was a sonic boom, it would have had to have been caused by a military aircraft because no civilian plane flies fast enough to cause one.
A spokesman for Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery said none of the aircraft that fly out of there travel fast enough to cause a sonic boom. A spokesman for the Alabama Air National Guard said today he would look into the report, but no information had been provided as of this afternoon.
It wouldn't be the first time a sonic boom has rattled walls and windows in Alabama.
Residents in Choctaw, Washington and Clarke counties reported a loud sonic boom in Feb. 2010 as three jets from the Pensacola Naval Air Station flew through the area.
In 2009, aircraft from a base in Tennessee broke the sound barrier and caused loud booms heard by many Madison County residents.
In 1995, police dispatchers in Pelham sent officers out looking for the source of the noise after getting calls from concerned residents. That noise was later determined to have been caused by a landing of Discovery space shuttle.

Alabama bingo verdicts: Milton McGregor, all other defendants not guilty in trial No. 2

MONTGOMERY, Al.
Jurors have found VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and five other defendants not guilty of all charges in the retrial of a government corruption case.
Jurors announced that they had reached a decision early this morning on their seventh day of deliberations.

McGregor; lobbyist Tom Coker; former Country Crossing casino spokesman Jay Walker; Sen. Harri Anne Smith, I-Slocomb; and former state Sens. Larry Means, D-Attalla, and Jim Preuitt, R-Talladega, are on trial accused of offering or accepting bribes in connection with a 2010 gambling bill.
The legislation was aimed at sheltering bingo casinos from state efforts to shut them down by authorizing a statewide vote on gambling.
Throughout the trial prosecutors attempted to paint the six defendants as greedy criminals that resorted to bribery because of their lust for money and power. But defense lawyer Joe Espy and others countered there was a total failure of proof in the case and that the prosecution was built on the testimony of "crooks" with plea deals and people with political motivations.
The case first went to trial last summer. Jurors deliberated for seven days before returning multiple not guilty verdicts but saying they were hopelessly deadlocked on other charges.
Prosecutors presented a dramatically paired down case this time. Prosecutors put on just two weeks of evidence compared to seven weeks in the first trial.
McGregor's charges he was found not guilty of this morning included three counts of federal programs bribery and one county of conspiracy.

Hand grenade and two explosive devices found in abandoned storage facility in Shelby County

 Shelby County, Al.
A hand grenade and two other unspecified explosive devices were removed from an abandoned storage facility today in the 1200 block of Old Highway 280 with the help of the Hoover Police Department's bomb squad, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies responded to a call about 1:30 p.m. after an employee reported finding the items, the sheriff's office said.
The area, which had been secured by deputies, has been reopened to the public.
Sheriff Chris Curry thanked Hoover police officers for their assistance in what the sheriff's office described as making a "dangerous situation safe."
The sheriff's office said it is investigating the history of the explosive found.

Mobile officer shooting: Winn-Dixie employee organized robbery

MOBILE, Al.
A Winn-Dixie employee organized a robbery of the store that ended with one Mobile police officer being shot in the chest, police said today.

Collier Kirksey, 18, was at the store Friday night when two men entered, held employees hostage and demanded money from a safe, police said.

Police say that after the two men -- Jackeith Harrison and Ronald Crear -- were involved in a shootout with police, Kirksey tried to hide his involvement. He stayed with other employees as investigators questioned witnesses at the scene.

"He was acting as if he was a victim," said Ashley Rains, a Mobile police spokeswoman.

Rains said that Kirksey arranged the robbery and picked the time of 11 p.m. The store typically employs an off-duty officer for security, but Kirksey knew that the officer would be gone by then, Rains said.

Investigators say that Harrison and Crear were both armed and both fired at five Mobile police officers, who were attempting to enter the store.

Officer Chad Wynne

Officer Chad Wynne was shot in the chest and is in critical condition at University of South Alabama Medical Center.

"We're very excited to report that he continues to recover," Rains said.

Harrison, 18, was arrested at the scene and is being held in Mobile County Metro Jail with no bail.

Crear, 21, was shot when police returned fire and is being treated at USA Medical Center, according to investigators.

Rains added that Wynne was not wearing a protective vest that night because he was working an off-duty job in the area.

She declined to discuss the Police Department's policy on officers wearing vests, citing officer safety.

Loud explosion, rumbling walls reported across Chilton County

CHILTON COUNTY, Al.
Calls poured into Chilton County's 911 this afternoon as dispatchers fielded about 100 reports of loud explosions and walls of homes suddenly shaking.
But, as of this afternoon, it was unclear what was the source of the disturbance.
Dan Wright, director of the county's 911 service, was at home, about a mile east of downtown Clanton, playing outside with his son when he heard the noise. It was about 4:30 p.m., he said.
"I felt the ground shaking and I heard this loud rumbling," Wright said. "My garage door started shaking and it sounded like it was falling down."
The calls at first seemed to be coming from mainly the northern half of the county, but several came from other parts of the county too, Wright said. Some came from as far away as Bibb County.
A dispatcher with Bibb County 911 said they received about a half dozen calls reporting the same thing. All of the calls came from north of West Blocton but stretched across Bibb County east to west.
The director of Shelby County's 911 service said no reports were received there.
The service is also receiving reports on its Twitter page, Wright said.
Efforts to reach officials with the Geological Survey of Alabama were not immediately successful this afternoon.The website of the U.S. Geological Survey does not show any earthquakes anywhere in Alabama since Feb. 29. 

Montgomery police arrest 3 burglary suspects after wreck

MONTGOMERY, Al.
Police arrested three suspects in connection with the burglary of a Yancey Avenue home Tuesday morning after an automobile pursuit that ended with the suspects wrecking the car they were in.
A statement from the department said Darryl Timmons, 22, Christopher Tyson, 20, and a 17-year-old juvenile were charged with one count each of third-degree burglary and second-degree theft of property.
Timmons and Tyson were transported to the Montgomery County Detention Facility, where each was being held under bonds totaling $15,000. The juvenile was placed in the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Christopher Tyson                             Darryl Timmons

MPD arrested the trio after their vehicle crashed in a field at the intersection of May and Rice streets while fleeing from police. Officers had attempted to stop the vehicle, a maroon Ford Windstar, on Upper Wetumpka Road after a witness described it in connection with the burglary, the statement said.
Following the crash, MPD located property in the Ford that had been taken from the Yancey Avenue residence. A spokesperson for the department said there were no injuries associated with the wreck.