Sunday police chase ends in crash in Hokes Bluff sending three to the hospital

A police chase that began in Cherokee County ended in Hokes Bluff Sunday with a car accident that injured three people.

 Hokes Bluff Police Chief Mitchell Hill said the chase involved a juvenile suspect who fled a traffic stop in Cherokee County.

 "He apparently threw something out of the window and kept going," Hill said.

 The chase continued into Etowah County. At approximately 3 p.m., the vehicle driven by the juvenile collided with the rear of a pickup truck on County Road 71.

 The driver of the pickup, a woman with her 11-year-old and 19-year-old daughters, were all injured. they were airlifted to UAB Hospital. At least two of the victims were critically injured.

 Hill said the juvenile was also taken to the hospital for observation

Police officer candidate wins discrimination suit against city of Gadsden

A man who applied to be a police officer in 2011 has won a discrimination lawsuit against the City of Gadsden following a federal court trial last week.  A jury awarded Michael D. Frazier $20,000, finding that the city discriminated by hiring lesser qualified minority applicants instead of hiring him, according to federal court documents.  Frazier’s suit claimed he applied to be a police officer about July 2011 and took his Civil Service exam on Aug. 24, 2011, placing him on the eligibility list, which is kept in numerical order. He claims he was ranked ninth on the list.  The suit alleges the police chief at the time, contrary to accepted practice, required a subordinate to provide him with gender and race information on each person on the eligibility roster. A position in the department opened up in January 2012. Frazier expressed interest and had an oral interview, but was not hired for the position. He received a letter saying the job had been filled by someone else.  The suit claimed the job was offered to the white female applicant with the highest test score. A short time later, the lawsuit stated, another opening was offered to an African-American police officer who had transferred in from another police department. Lateral transfers of certified peace officers is specifically authorized by Civil Service Board procedures according to the lawsuit. The suit alleges another opening was offered to an African-American man who was ranked below Frazier on the eligibility roster.  The suit claimed the city of Gadsden unlawfully discriminated against Frazier and other white applicants based on race, and engaged in hiring practices with malice and/or reckless indifference to Frazier’s federally protected rights.

Gadsden man convicted of Attempted murder

Mario White

An Etowah county jury convicted a Gadsden man Friday on two counts of attempted murder.

42 year old Mario Lashawn White,  faces a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum sentence of life or 99 years on each count. He’ll be sentenced on Oct. 20 by Judge Billy Ogletree.

The jury deliberated about two hours before convicting White of the Sept. 23, 2013, incident in which Torriente Snow was struck four times by bullets and left paralyzed from the waist down..  White was arrested followed an investigation by the Gadsden Police Department. Torriente Snow testified at trial that he was shot as he was going up the front steps onto his front porch after starting his mother’s car for her.  White had concealed himself in the shrubbery next to the steps and shot Snow at least three times in the initial volley of .45 caliber gunfire.

Georgia man killed in highway 9 accident

A head-on collision Saturday on Alabama 9 claimed the life of a Georgia man and sent two other men to Alabama hospitals.

Calhoun County Assistant Coroner Jay Bowden said the accident occurred about 1 mile south of White Plains Elementary School just after noon on Saturday.

The 28-year-old man from Stone Mountain, Ga., who was driving a Hyundai, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A passenger in the Hyundai was taken by ambulance to Regional Medical Center in Anniston for treatment. A man driving the other vehicle involved in the accident, a Nissan SUV, was taken to UAB by air ambulance.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation by Alabama State TroopersThe body of the Georgia man was sent to the Department of Forensics in Huntsville for an autopsy.

Gadsden police investigating possible elder abuse case

Nathaniel Scott Kimble

Gadsden police are investigating an apparently severe case of elder abuse and neglect they say happened despite the presence of a caregiver.  A Gadsden police report says officers responding to a welfare check on call Monday night found a 72-year-old woman who told police she had suffered a stroke but had not gone to the hospital. The police report described the house, located at the intersection of 22nd Street and Sansom Avenue in the Alabama City section of Gadsden, as "badly degraded" conditions.They said the woman had bugs coming out of her mouth and wore a diaper that hadn't been changed in some time.They described the woman as living among numerous cockroaches, in a house where a sink full of dishes gave off a strong odor. A 41-year-old man police described as the caregiver told police to leave at first, but later left the home himself as the first fire truck arrived with medics. The woman was then transported to Riverview Regional Medical Center.The report said the Etowah County Department of Human Resources has joined the investigation. The womans caregiver says claims that his mother is the victim of elder abuse are not true. Nathaniel Scott Kimble says he has a tough time discussing allegations that his 72-year old mother had bugs crawling out of her mouth when Gadsden police were called to the home they share on Sansom Avenue for a welfare check.  Kimble said that "Seven of ten houses on the block and I guarantee you they have cockroaches in them.