01-18-16 News

1-18-16

Calhoun fatal

Alabama State Troopers are investigating a two-vehicle crash that left one person dead and several injured. The collision occurred on U.S. 431 two miles south of Glencoe.  51 year old David Lyle Lefler, of Jacksonville was driving his 1993 Toyota pickup truck when it collided with a 1994 Ford pickup driven by 18 year old Johnathan Keith Guilbert, of Weaver. Neither Lefler or Guilbert were wearing their seatbelt at the time of the collision. Lefler was pronounced dead at the scene and Guilbert was transported to Gadsden Regional Medical Center.  State troopers said that two occupants were injured in Guilbert's vehicle. 18 year old Suni Li Labor,  of Weaver, and 18 year old Winter Jewel Westbrooks, of Anniston, were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. They were transported to Anniston Regional Medical Center.

1-18-16

Rbc shooting

A Hokes Bluff man is dead following an officer-involved shooting Sunday near Dogwood Trace Apartments in Rainbow City.nn38 year old Joshua Tate Fielding, was pronounced dead at the scene. Fielding had been taken into custody twice by Rainbow City police for violation of a domestic violence protection order, and once for the same alleged offense by Gadsden officers. The most recent Rainbow City arrest was in October 2015.  When Gadsden police arrested Fielding in April, he also was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest.  Police responded to a call about an altercation about 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the apartment complex, just off Christopher Street. An armed man ran from the scene, and police engaged in a brief foot chase before the man was shot by an officer.  Details of the shooting were not available, but the man was dead on the scene.  The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Department of Forensic Science are investigating the shooting.

1-18-16

Anniston shooting

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has released information about a fatal shooting that took place Friday in Anniston. The incident happened in the 400 block of Permita Court in Anniston and involved an off-duty employee of the Anniston City Jail. 42-year-old Deatrice Marquiste Barclay was fatally wounded during the shooting. Another person, 23-year-old Joel Evan Abbott, was also injured and is currently listed in stable condition. The State Bureau of Investigation was called in to work the case at the request of the Anniston Police Department.

1-18-16

Etowah fatals

Two men were killed in a fiery crash on U.S. Highway 278 Friday afternoon.  22 year old Gino Lane Fiaccato, died at UAB Hospital about. Saturday morning. He was a passenger in a Pontiac Grand Am that went off U.S. Highway 278 near Carnes Chapel Road, traveled 255 feet down a 30-foot embankment, striking trees and bursting into flames. Fiaccato suffered burns over 63 percent of his body.  The driver of the car Steve Allen Steele of Altoona was pronounced dead at the scene Friday afternoon.  Steele was traveling east on U.S. 278 West near the intersection with Carnes Chapel Road when the crash occurred. the Pontiac Grand Am veered off the shoulder of the road and traveled 255 feet, going down a 30 foot embankment, striking trees on the way down and bursting into flames.

1-18-16

Landslide

The westbound lane of Alabama Highway 68 between Leesburg and Sand Rock remains closed because of a landslide at Mile Marker 27. The section of highway has been closed since Dec. 28.  Heavy rains during Christmas week caused the landslide, which extends 125 feet in length and 3 feet into the westbound lane along the mountainside highway. A ravine more than 100 feet deep lies below the highway’s guard rail — which is now suspended and connected only at ends beyond the landslide. State Troopers — with their cars’ blue lights continuously flashing — have been stationed along the closed highway 24 hours a day, seven days a week to warn motorists of the danger. The official detour from Leesburg to Collinsville is via U.S. Highway 411 South to Gadsden, west along U.S. Highway 431, and north along Interstate 59 North to Exit 205.

1-18-16

Savage retires

Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit Commander Rob Savage has retired, according to the unit's board of directors.  With 29 years of law enforcement experience and 10 years as the commander of the Etowah drug unit, Savage is retiring for personal reasons according to a statement from the board said. Savage also led the Etowah County Joint Special Operations Group.  Savage commanded the drug unit and JSOG since its formation in 2005. From 1997 to 2005, he commanded the Marshall County Drug Task Force. Under Savage's command, the Etowah County Drug Task Force conducted more than 9,000 felony drug investigations resulting in arrest. The unit was recognized by the FBI as one of the outstanding task forces in the Southeast. Savage's retirement is effective immediately.

1-18-16

Gadsden murder

Gadsden police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened outside a convenience store. It happened Friday night at Age Fuel Stop, located on Ewing Avenue at the intersection of Eastlake Drive. Store employees say the man was found shot in the neck and lying next to a kerosene pump at the front of the store. It all happened around 6:15 p.m. Friday night when one employee said a crowd of people appeared to be arguing over something.  Etowah County Coroner Michael Head did not release the name of the victim but described him as 26 years old and from Gadsden. He says the man's body was taken to the state department of forensic sciences for an autopsy.

1-18-16

I 59 arrest

DeKalb County authorities arrested a North Carolina man Friday morning after getting a 911 call that someone was on Interstate 59 near the Collinsville exit, waving a gun, and had traffic stopped.

Sheriff Jimmy Harris said Collinsville police, deputies, Drug Task Force agents and State Troopers arrived to find 53 year old Adam Eugene Finch, of Oxford, North Carolina, sitting in his vehicle. When deputies and drug agents got consent to search the vehicle, they found a gun and two meth pipes in the back seat.

DeKalb Ambulance Service was called to make sure nothing was wrong with Finch, and medical personnel determined that he was under the influence of a controlled substance. Finch then was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI of a controlled substance.