Anniston murder #10

April 23, 2008

Another murder. I thought last night was too pretty a night to go killing anybody. This one apparently began with a call Wednesday about shots fired over near 1030 Cobb Avenue around 10:40 p.m.

The police found Carnell Hall, 46, of Anniston with several gunshot wounds a short distance away over at the 1000 block of West 15th Street.

He died about an hour later in the hospital.

Our breaking news links are free so here's the story.

This makes 10 murders in the city this year and 11 total in the county.

There wasn't really anything in the police report that would indicate why it happened. Anybody know anything about it?

No other violent crime briefs today!

I followed up on the city council's proposal regarding Anniston's police jurisdiction in today's paper.

Chief John Dryden and Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson both had some interesting input.
Dryden basically said they will be able to focus their efforts a bit more. Amerson said he was sort of expecting it.

The sheriff said it would be easier in the long run but there will be a real challenge in the short term.

"We will do our very best to protect the residents of those areas. We just ask for their patience while we adjust," said Amerson.

Robberies, rape, and the hit-and-run

In an effort to make the police blog more "bloggy," I've been encouraged to summarize the material we report in the print version of The Star and link to the articles instead of posting the content verbatim. I'm going to do my best to continue to offer the same amount of quasi-daily information that has been provided here, but it may be a click or two away now.

Now on to today's business.

I spoke with the State Troopers yesterday. They reportedly found the vehicle they believe hit Bridget Craft, 48, while was walking on Eulaton Road back on April 18. Here's the story.

A 13-year-old girl from west Anniston also came forward this week and told police she was raped back in January by a man she met on a social networking site. This is the first of these I've seen since I've been here but I wouldn't be surprised to find that there have been others.

Finally, there were a pair of robberies - one with an arrest - in Anniston on Monday night. In one a 43-year-old man was jumped by three or four other men near Blue Mountain Road. In the other a 28-year-old was robbed by someone he knew on Old Birmingham Hwy.
Today I'm going to be looking at an Anniston City Council story from last night by Megan Nichols. Apparently the jurisdiction for Anniston Police is going to be pulled in out of the county a little bit so they can concentrate more on the city.

Anniston could cease police patrols in areas outside city limits

By Megan Nichols
Staff Writer

04-23-2008

The Anniston City Council may soon pull its police services out of the city's police jurisdictions.

The action would put those areas located outside Anniston city limits under the jurisdiction of the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office.

The council voted Tuesday night to allow city attorney Polly Russell to draft an ordinance to that effect, at the request of Councilman Stan Bennett. Bennett said he had discussed the idea with the Calhoun County Commission as well as Sheriff Larry Amerson.

"Being able to devote those officers to the city itself would allow us to increase patrols and coverage of areas that may need it," Bennett said. "It isn't something that I particularly want to do, but a decision I had to make for the citizens of the city."

Release: Philadelphia, Mississippi pawn shop owner sentenced for selling eagle feathers

Press Release: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region
April 23, 2008

On April 18, 2008, a Philadelphia, Mississippi, pawn shop owner, Willis
R. McKee, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Jackson to a
misdemeanor count of selling a Native American dance bustle made with
bald eagle feathers. McKee was sentenced by United States Magistrate
Judge James C. Sumner to pay fines totaling $5,050 and to serve
probation until such fines were paid. The eagle feather bustle and
other illegal wildlife items were forfeited to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.

An investigation led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement documented that on October 28, 2006, McKee sold the
eagle feather bustle for $534.99, in violation of the Bald and Golden
Eagle Protection Act. The investigation also documented that McKee
offered to sell other Native American ceremonial items made with Canada
goose and turkey vulture feathers in violation of the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act. McKee had obtained the illegal items from a customer of his
pawn business.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will work closely with the state and
tribal authorities to enforce laws and regulations to prevent the
unlawful commercialization of eagles and protected migratory birds,”
said John Rawls, Special Agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
with assistance from the Wildlife and Parks Department and Police
Department from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian Reservation, and
the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. The case was prosecuted
by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.

For more information about federal laws governing hunting migratory
birds, visit http://www.fws.gov/hunting/whatres.html

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others
to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more
information, visit http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ and http://www.fws.gov.

Former TCCHS coach acquitted of rape

By Chris Norwood (The Daily Home)
04-22-2008

TALLADEGA COUNTY — A jury deliberated for about 3 hours Friday afternoon before acquitting former Talladega County Central High School teacher and head basketball coach Alvin Penez Taylor of one count of rape in the first degree.
Taylor was acquitted of sex abuse in the first degree by a jury in February 2006. In that case, defense attorney Clarence Dortch III argued the victim, who said Taylor had groped her at the school when she was 15 or 16, had fabricated the allegations after Taylor had her paddled for forging a hall pass.
The rape allegation, which was raised by a relative of the alleged victim in the first case, surfaced during the investigation of the sex abuse allegation.
Taylor was fired by the Talladega County Board of Education when the allegations surfaced in March 2005. Under Alabama’s tenure law, Taylor has the right to arbitration proceedings, which have been in limbo until the rape allegation was resolved.

Full story

Concerned residents meet to discuss violence in Anniston

By Megan Nichols
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Dr. Randy Kelly speaks at Monday's 'Stop the Violence' meeting. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

Everyone had an opinion on how to stop violence in Anniston when area ministers and residents met with the City Council Monday night.

One resident said it has to start in the schools. Another insisted going to the streets is the only way. Others said stopping violence begins in the home.

The night's purpose was to hear ideas and opinions and figure out a way the city could put them into action, said Anniston Mayor Chip Howell.

"This is about the health of our community, from the inside out," Howell said.

Between 30 and 40 people crowded into the old council chambers at City Hall to address the issue. The Anniston area has seen 10 homicides this year, and residents and ministers said they want to work with the city to get a handle on the problem.

Full story (paid)

Anniston man robbed on way to hotel soft drink machine

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

A 24-year-old man living at a hotel on the 1000 block of U.S. 431 in Anniston reportedly was robbed Friday on his way to a soda machine.

The man had just left his room around 7:15 p.m. when two armed men approached him, Anniston police said.

One of the thieves pointed a handgun at him while the other went through his pockets and took money and other items, investigators said.

The thieves then fled on foot, police said.

No injuries were reported, and no arrests had been made as of Monday afternoon.

Super Value Inn robbery still under investigation

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Oxford police said Monday they were still searching for three men who robbed the Super Value Inn at 104 Spring Branch Road on April 14.

Police said there were few new leads in the incident.

On April 14 one man walked into the inn around 10:30 p.m. and asked the clerk for a room, Oxford police reported.

When the clerk turned to get a key, two more men walked into the business wearing knit hats over their face. One was armed with a silver handgun.

According to investigators the men made the clerk open the register and the unarmed man grabbed an undisclosed amount of money.

Clay County man recovering after being shot in dispute

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

A 32-year-old Clay County man was in an Atlanta hospital over the weekend after he was shot during a domestic dispute at a home on White Plains Road.

Clay County Sheriffs Office received reports of a domestic situation around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, said investigator Steve Cotney.

When deputies arrived at the 1500 block of White Plains Road, they found that Wyatt Morris, 32, had been shot in the chest, said Cotney.

After an initial investigation, Morris' girlfriend, Dee Hallman, 39, was arrested and charged with first-degree assault.

Morris was air lifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He was in stable condition as of Sunday evening, Cotney said.

The sheriff's office is continuing to investigate the incident.

Quintard Avenue Wendy's robbed by pair of thieves

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Two men brandishing handguns robbed the Wendy's at 1501 Quintard Avenue on Saturday night.

The men — both wearing ski-masks and gloves — approached the counter around 9:50 p.m. and demanded money, Anniston police reported.

Employees complied, and the men left on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, said investigators.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Police had made no arrests in the case as of Monday afternoon.

Investigators said there are similarities between the incident and the April 16 robbery of the Rally's restaurant at 400 South Quintard Ave.

3 women raped, robbed, man robbed in home invasion

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Four armed men entered a home on the 700 block of East 22nd Street just after 10 p.m. Sunday, raped and robbed three women, and robbed a man before fleeing, Anniston police said.

Three adults and two children were in the house when the four men entered through an unlocked front door, police said.

All of the men had their faces covered and all were either wearing gloves or socks on their hands and carrying firearms. One had a handgun, the others had shotguns or rifles.

The men reportedly demanded "drugs and money," police said.

When the adults only produced money, the 55-year-old man was hit and the two women, ages 44 and 24, were raped, investigators said.

A third woman, age 41, walked into the house during the incident and was sexually abused, police said.

The children reportedly were unharmed.

Police said there is no apparent connection to an April 1 incident on the 700 block of Blue Ridge Drive in which a 21-year-old victim was raped and robbed in the early morning hours.

No arrests had been made in either case as of Monday afternoon.

Hit-and-run death still under investigation

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Alabama State Troopers continued Monday to search for leads in a hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of a 48-year-old Anniston woman Friday.

Vehicular homicide investigators spent time over the weekend reviewing evidence recovered from the scene that might bring them closer to finding the vehicle that struck and killed Bridget Craft, 48, of Anniston, said Jacksonville-Gadsden Post Commander Capt. John Henderson.

Troopers believe the vehicle was a red Dodge Ram four-wheel-drive truck, said Henderson. A different description reported in The Star on Sunday was incorrect.

According to reports, Craft was walking her dog around 8:30 p.m. when the dog got loose and was hit by a vehicle. When she tried to tend to her dog, Craft was struck by the Dodge Ram and the vehicle drove off, state troopers said.

Craft died from blunt-force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the incident, said Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown.

Standoff with Oxford police ends peacefully Friday

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Oxford police defused a brief standoff with a 43-year-old man on Clearview Drive on Friday.

Investigators said the man locked himself in his house with at least one Molotov cocktail just before 2 p.m. and refused to come out.

A negotiator talked the man out, police said. According to investigators the whole situation was over in less than a half-hour.

The man was transported to a local hospital by Oxford EMS.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Father allegedly takes baby, runs over mother

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

A 28-year-old Anniston man took an infant from its 20-year-old mother, then allegedly ran over the Douglasville woman with a car this weekend as he fled with the child, according to Anniston police.

The incident took place hours before thousands of dollars of his tools were stolen and his desk at work was set on fire, police said.

The woman and her infant were visiting her mother at an apartment on the 1500 block of Warrior Road around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.

The child's father, who police said does not have custody, came to visit and tried to leave with the child without permission, investigators said.

As he drove off, the woman chased after his car and was dragged behind the vehicle before falling down, police said.

Full story (paid)

Man, woman beaten during confrontation

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

A 22-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman who went to a house Saturday evening to confront a man were beaten and shot at, according to Anniston police reports.

The two went to a home on Old Birmingham Highway around 6 p.m., intending to visit a man they said was spreading rumors about the woman, investigators said.

When they arrived at the house, they began arguing with two men, one 22 years old and the other 17, police said. As the argument escalated, the two men allegedly began beating them.

The 22-year-old resident allegedly pulled out a pistol and fired downward at a porch, and then in the direction of first the man and then the woman, said investigators.

Neither the man nor the woman was struck. Both refused medical treatment for contusions and abrasions, according to police reports.

No arrests had been made in the incident as of Monday.

Oxford video store robbed Friday night

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Three men wearing masks robbed the Blockbuster Video store in Oxford just before closing Friday night.

Oxford police said the three men — two carrying handguns — entered the store just before 10:30 p.m. Two were wearing black ski masks; the third was wearing an orange ski mask, said police.

They approached the counter, demanded money, and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, investigators said.

The men were seen leaving in a black Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Marquis, headed south on Alabama 21.

No suspects were in custody Monday. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Man robs Oxford Compass Bank branch

These are some of the best quality surveillance photos I've seen. Hopefully someone will recognize this guy. -aj

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Bank surveillance footage shows the suspect in a Saturday morning robbery at the Compass Bank location on Quintard Avenue in Oxford. Photo: Special to The Star

A man robbed the Compass Bank location at 720 Quintard Ave. in Oxford on Saturday morning after slipping a teller a note.

Around 11:10 a.m., a man wearing a black baseball cap and a black jacket with red trim walked into the bank and gave a teller a note demanding money, reported Oxford police.

The teller gave the man an undisclosed amount of cash and the man exited by the same door through which he had entered, said investigators.

He fled northbound on foot, police said.

The incident is similar in description to an April 7 robbery of the Golden Springs branch of Regions Bank.

In that incident, a man entered the bank around 9:25 a.m. and passed the teller a note demanding money. He never showed a weapon, according to reports. He fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries were reported.

Local groups differ in approach to addressing violence

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-20-2008

This isn't the first time the alarms have been sounded.

The recent effort of local community leaders to rally against violence is the latest in a history of grassroots movements that have molded Anniston over time.

Stop the Violence, the roundtable discussions sponsored by Anniston Funeral Services, have joined the ranks of existing efforts like the United Men and Women of Calhoun County, a group of activists who since late last year, have been planning an anti-crime and anti-violence rally for May 3.

The two groups have some overlap in the common goal of addressing recent elevated levels of violent crime, but they have different approaches.

The coordinator for the United Men and Women of Calhoun County, Demetrius McClellan, said he and other activists have been collecting research and meeting with experts for the past several months on initiatives that would ultimately lead to the redevelopment of West 15th Street.

Full story (paid)

Hit-and-run driver kills Anniston woman

By Matt Kasper
Staff Writer

04-20-2008

An Anniston woman trying to save her dog was killed Friday night by a hit-and-run driver around 8:25 p.m. on Eulaton Road two miles west of Anniston.

Bridgett Craft, 48, was fatally injured when she tried to reach her dog, which had just been hit by an unknown vehicle, according to Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown.

Brown said Craft was struck by what a witness described as a maroon Z-71 Chevrolet truck with dual exhaust pipes. The truck also was described as a side-step truck.

Craft died from blunt-force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene, Brown said.

State troopers are investigating the case.

Local soldier dies after N.C. shooting

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-19-2008

A Calhoun County soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, who was shot April 12 outside a nightclub in Fayetteville, N.C., died from his injuries Friday.

A friend close to the family of Spc. Sergio Sanchez, 22, a 2004 graduate of Oxford High School, said the soldier died from complications due to a gunshot wound in the neck.

Sanchez was shot around 3 a.m. last Saturday near a parking lot behind a local cabaret after he walked up on several men robbing other people on the street, said Jamie Smith of the Fayetteville Police Department.

Sanchez was confronted and shot in the neck, Smith said.

He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and later to University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, according to reports.

He remained in critical condition for the better part of the week before succumbing to his wounds, said family friend Jessica Pittman.

Pittman said Sanchez had returned 45 days earlier from a deployment to Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Georgia officials seek help finding robbery suspect

By Megan Nichols
Staff Writer

04-19-2008

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office in Georgia is asking for help in identifying a man who robbed a bank on Thursday.

Officials said the man entered BB&T Bank at 207 W. College St. in Bowdon, Ga., just before 5 p.m. Thursday. He approached a teller, produced a pistol and ordered the employees to group together.

He then restrained them and had one retrieve money, officials said. The man left with an undisclosed amount of money and was driving a new-model tan Toyota, possibly a Corolla.

Officials said no one was injured during the robbery.

Anyone with information on the suspect's identity or whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 770-830-5916.

No charges filed yet on Anniston shooter

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-19-2008

Charges are not likely to be filed for a while in the case of a 41-year-old man who allegedly shot the mother of his child to death before turning the gun on himself.

Police said Richard Tidwell, 41, of the 300 block of North Marshall Street, survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators said Tidwell still was recovering from surgery Friday and they will formally charge him as soon as they feel he is well enough.

According to police reports, Tidwell and Tanya Grizzard, 29, of Anniston, were having an argument over their 2-month-old child outside Tidwell's residence when Tidwell allegedly shot Grizzard in the head at least three times with a small-caliber handgun.

Tidwell then shot himself once in the head, investigators said.

Grizzard was pronounced dead on the scene around 6 p.m.