Alabama 810 Country

Police in Anniston are investigating the death of an unborn fetus after the mother was shot two weeks ago.  Investigators say that 27 year old Shronta Marie Clifton shot the pregnant woman in the stomach after the two argued.  The 27 year old victim was take to Regional

Medical Center where she underwent surgery. Later, police learned that the woman had been in her first trimester of pregnancy but had miscarried after the shooting. Police are now looking into whether the gunshot wound caused the miscarriage, something that would turn the case into the department’s first homicide of the year.

If that happens, Clifton’s first- degree assault charge would likely be upgraded to murder.  Both Clifton and the victim both lived at Constantine Homes at the time of the shooting.

Clifton remain in custody at the Calhoun County Jail.

A 23 year old Anniston man accused of being a serial rapist is on trial this week in Anniston.    Ularius Johnson was arrested over 17 months ago and faces 27 indictments including multiple counts of rape, burglary and kidnapping stemming from several cases in Anniston and Calhoun County that took place between 2007 and 2009.
Calhoun County District Attorney Brian McVeigh said during the prosecution’s opening arguments in the trial Tuesday said that he had never been in a trial with this many victims. Six victims of sexual assault are expected to take the witness stand during the trial, which McVeigh and Calhoun County Circuit Judge Debra Jones said will likely take several weeks.

A man driving a stolen Ford Explorer in Gadsden is in custody today but not before attempting to get away from police.  Police say the suspect bailed out of the vehicle Tuesday morning while being pursued by officers and the vehicle struck the porch of a house.

Gadsden Police officer Mike Prater spotted the stolen explorer Tuesday morning and the driver of the Explorer saw the patrol car and tried to get away, at one point driving backward on South 15th Street.

The driver backed across Chestnut Street, spun around forward and headed onto Cansler Avenue, where he bailed out of the moving Explorer. The vehicle rolled into the porch at a house on Cansler Avenue. Prater chased the man and captured him on Fourth Avenue.

Weaver Mayor Garry Bearden was back in court Tuesday in the second day of his civil trial challenging his residency. Bearden owns two homes, one in weaver the other in Anniston. The problem is that Bearden listed the Anniston home for a homestead tax exemption, which you are only supposed to do for your primary residence.
If the Anniston home is his primary residence, then he doesn't meet the residence requirement to be mayor of Weaver.
Yesterday, the mayor said he has slept at his Weaver home ever since the lawsuit was filed last year.  City councilman Michael Warren filed the suit challenging the mayors residency.

A 23 year old  Talladega man has been indicted for murder by a Talladega county grand jury in connection with a fatal shooting at a bar in Lincoln last March.  Ryan R. Foster, is accused of shooting 27 year old Cedrick Dothard in the parking lot of the Odyssey Lounge in Lincoln March 13. Lincoln police arrested Foster in August.
At the time of Foster’s arrest, investigators said he and another man had gotten into an argument in the club’s parking lot. Foster got a gun out of his car and opened fire.  Investigators said that Dothard was not involved in the original altercation and is not believed to have been the intended target.
If convicted of murder, Foster faces 20 to 99 years or life in prison.

Two Lineville men are facing drug charges.  The Clay County Sheriff's Drug Task Force arrested Stanley Derron Fleming & Michael Lindsey of Lineville charging them with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Marijuana 2nd. Fleming had been arrested by the Task Force back in November 2011 for Distribution of Controlled Substance. Task Force Officers also arrested Jessie Durell Cosby of Lineville charging him with  4 counts of Illegal Possession and Fraudulent use of Credit Cards and one count of Theft of Property 2nd. Lindsey remains in the Clay County Jail on Bonds totaling $50,000 dollars. Clay County Sheriff Ray Latham said that sheriffs department investigators have utilized the efforts of the ABI, Alabama State Fire Marshal, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) forensic and U.S. Marshals ESU to aid in forensic examination of materials associated with the Doug Crawford homicide.  Crawfords body was found December 28^th in a burning mobile home near Ashland.  Latham said they will utilize all resources available to hold those responsible for Crawfords death..

The City of Anniston may have violated one of their own city ordinances in this weeks demolition of buildings to make way for construction of the cities new justice center.  The Historic Preservation Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation are asking questions about a demolition project in downtown Anniston. The Alabama Code requires the city to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the local preservation commission prior to altering or demolishing buildings within a locally regulated historic district. The structure taken down by the city this week stands next to the Anniston City Land Company building, which is the structure
that the commission is actually most concerned about.  Cairperson of the Anniston historic preservation commission, Joan McKinney brought the issue to the city council in their Tuesday work session.    McKinney told the council Tuesday  that she’s certain the city’s failure to comply with the code was just an oversight. City planner  Toby Bennington assured Mckinney that there would be a meeting with the Public Building Authority later this week to clear up the issue

Glencoe police have charged An Attalla woman and a Birmingham area man in connection with a forgery and identity theft scheme.

29 year old Naomi Victoria Battles, and 34 year old Ronald Bembery III, of Fairfield, were arrested by Glencoe Police.  Battles was charged with four counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument and Bembery was charged with one count of second-degree possession of a forged instrument and identity theft. The charges stem from an investigation that began on Dec. 21 after counterfeit checks were cashed on the account of Meadowood Retirement Center in Glencoe.  Five checks, payable to three different people for the total of $3,925.55, were cashed several grocery stores in the Gadsden area.

It was determined that checks written to Battles for a total of $3,258.92.  During the investigation, it was determined another man from the Birmingham area allegedly went to a motel room in Gadsden and printed the first five checks from his laptop with information about Meadowood, where Battles previously had worked.  It was determined that the names on three of the first five checks made in November were those of two men listed on driver’s licenses that had been stolen in the Montgomery and Selma areas. Those men were victims of identity theft.  Bembery was arrested Feb. 2 on a traffic stop while attempting to leave the Attalla area to return to Fairfield.

Battles was taken into custody the following morning.

On Jan. 29, the man who allegedly made the checks in Gadsden and Attalla was taken into custody by a Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy at the Bessemer Walmart. He was found to have more than 50 identifications on him and was charged with trafficking in identity.

The investigation is ongoing and other arrests are pending,.

A 31 year old Lincoln man is facing additional charges after Calhoun County and Talladega County sheriffs Investigators went to a residence on River Rd. in Ohatchee in attempt to serve a warrant on Troy Ford. When officers arrived, Ford ran out the back door into the woods. While searching for Ford Officers received information that Ford was going to be picked up and taken into Talladega County. Calhoun County Deputies observed the suspect vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop and the vehicle accelerated attempting to flee and the Deputy pursued. During the pursuit the vehicle the Deputy observed what he believed to be a firearm pointed at the driver. Several Deputies joined the pursuit and got the vehicle stopped and observed a firearm being thrown out of the vehicle. Deputies took Ford into custody and recovered the firearm. 31 year old Troy Clifford Ford, was arrested and charged with Kidnapping 2nd. He is being held in the Calhoun County.

Authorities in Talladega County are searching for two white males in connection with a Tuesday robbery of a man on interstate 20.  According to investigators,  the victim was hauling mattresses in his black pickup truck. After a mattress fell off the truck he pulled over to retrieve it near mile marker 176. Two white males in a green pickup truck pulled up to assist and once the mattress was tied up, the victim was assaulted and robbed. Investigators said that motorists traveling westbound over the freeway did not stop to help the man, who was laid out on the side of the road for some time before getting up.
The two men took $2,000 from the victim, who suffered a minor head injury. Investigators are asking that anyone who was traveling westbound on I-20 Tuesday afternoon and saw something to call the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department Investigations Division at 256-761-2141.