Here are a few of the criminal law stories that have recently occurred around the state of Alabama:
- The day after Thanksgiving saw a predawn fight and shooting at an Enterprise Waffle House. According to authorities, the victim and suspect started a verbal and physical altercation around 4:30 a.m. in the restaurant before leaving and continuing the fight in the parking lot. The suspect pulled out a handgun and fired a single shot that hit the victim in the leg; the victim was then airlifted to a nearby hospital. Joshua Clayton Ward is being held in the Coffee County Jail on charges of first-degree assault.
- A 24-year-old convicted felon led Mountain Brook police on a chase Wednesday afternoon with the suspect eventually losing control, striking a power pole, crossing five lanes of traffic and crashing the stolen vehicle on Montclair Road. The suspect, Eric Devaughn McAlpine, tried to escape on foot before being picked up by authorities; he refused medical treatment for his injuries from the crash. McAlpine was charged with first-degree receiving stolen property, certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and attempting to elude. McAlpine had been previously convicted for a 2013 felony robbery charge, receiving a ten-year sentence and serving three years. He also has multiple drug, theft of property and unlawful possession of controlled substance charges. He is in Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $22,800.
- On November 19th, a 27-year-old Coosa County Jail inmate escaped for the second time in less than a month, tied up an elderly couple in their Coosa County home and stole their vehicle. After the suspect, Shane Anthony Vernon, obtained the vehicle, he drove to Elmore County on Monday, broke into the home of a 60-year-old man, abducted him and drove him as far as Douglasville, Georgia before letting him out of the vehicle at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21st. The victim went to a local gas station for help. Vernon is now charged with unlawful imprisonment, first-degree robbery, theft of a motor vehicle and second-degree escape along with his original burglary and theft charges. He was recaptured on Wednesday, November 22nd.
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