Anniston police forced to shoot man apparantly attempting to take his life

An Anniston man was transported to a local hospital Monday night after being shot by a police officer.

According to a release issued by Captain Allen George the man had a knife at the time of the shooting.

Captain George explains that the incident happened just before 8:30pm. Police were responding to a call of a man making a disturbance.

When officers confronted the suspect, identified as 60 year old James Wine, they found wine still in possession of the knife and threatening to stab himself.

Officers observed that wine had already cut his own wrists.

One officer on the scene ordered wine to drop the knife… when he refused a second officer tased him.

Captain George says wine was not phased by the strike and continued to possess the knife and then raised it at the officers.

George says at that time an officer opened fire striking wine in the abdomen. George says wine then stabbed himself in the chest.

Officers then tased wine a second time to prevent a second stab to the chest. Wine was at this point disarmed… but as he reached back for the knife he was tased a third time.

At this point officers were able to secure wine and called for medical assistance.

Police seeking information on shooting into hom injuring Anniston woman

Authorities report that An Anniston woman was hit by a bullet when someone fired shots into her home the day after Christmas.

The 48-year-old woman told police that she was sitting in her home Friday on Hilltop Drive at around 5:30 a.m. she heard glass break and realized she’d been shot.

The woman was shot in the leg and was treated and released from a local hospital.

According to police, officers found multiple bullet holes in the exterior and interior walls of the home, two bullet holes through the front door and bullet holes in a couch and in a microwave.

Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call Anniston police at 256-240-4000.

Gadsden police investigating Sunday robbery of elderly man

Gadsden police are investigating an incident involving an elderly man who says a group of men jumped him and took his money yesterday.

According to police reports, the incident happened in the area of Stroud Avenue and North 14th Street sometime Sunday afternoon, from 12 to 5 p.m. An 85-year-old man told police he was leaving a home when three or four men grabbed him, slammed him against a car and took about $3,000 in cash from him. The incident was apparently observed by several witnesses.

The group pushed him to the ground, then drove off in a white car. Police reported the victim, who was described as intoxicated, had scrapes on his hands and fingers. However, he refused medical care.

Sycamore man charged in christmas robbery

Tracy Michael Oglesby

A 21 year old Sycamore man is facing first-degree robbery charges after deceptively gaining entry into a neighbor’s home and holding an elderly couple at gunpoint following Christmas dinner.

Investigators say Tracy Michael Oglesby stopped at his neighbor’s home and claimed he had nothing to eat, prompting the couple to show a little holiday spirit.

They invited him in and fixed him something to eat, While they were there at the kitchen table, when they turned around, he was holding a pistol on them. He tied the male victim to a kitchen chair and forced him to sign a fake bill of sale for their vehicles.

Oglesby bound the female victim and put her in a closet, then proceeded to take a large quantity of items from the residence, including $800 in cash, several containers with loose change, jewelry, clothing and weaponry.

Oglesby left the residence in a black 2002 Chevrolet Camaro belonging to the victims.

The female victim was able to free herself and her husband before finding a way to notify authorities of the crime.

Later in the evening, members of the Childersburg Police Department apprehended Oglesby, who was wearing some of the stolen jewelry at the time of his arrest.

Most of the stolen items were recovered except for $668 in cash that witnesses said Oglesby threw out the window of the vehicle prior to being stopped by Childersburg police.

Oglesby was transported to the Talladega County Jail.

District Judge Jeb Fannin set Oglesby’s bond at $500,000.

Authorities say the incident remains under investigation and additional charges are pending.

Grant to help market Alabama businesses abroad

A new $86,365 state-issued grant will help businesses in Alabama's Appalachian Regional Commission district which includes Calhoun, Blount, Etowah, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph and Talladega counties to receive product marketing assistance overseas.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the award from the ARC program, which is targeting small- and medium-sized businesses in 37 counties from Macon County to the Tennessee border.

In a release announcing the grant, Gov. Robert Bentley said the Alabama Department of Commerce will use the funds to "tout Alabama businesses" during trade trips and to train companies to sell their products in foreign markets.

"Alabama businesses produce excellent products that are sold around the world," he said in a statement. "This grant will help our Alabama Department of Commerce market Alabama-made goods that can be sold to companies abroad."

Piedmont man dies in Saturday morning fire

Piedmont fire officials discovered the body of a Piedmont man after extinguishing a house fire on South Church Street on Saturday morning.

Responders discovered the body of 38-year-old Adrian Juwan Mathis inside the home. The Calhoun County Coroner's Office believes the death was an accident.

Piedmont Police, the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Center for Applied Forensics are assisting with the death and fire investigations. The investigations are ongoing.