Baldwin County, Alabama News and Discussion
February 2nd, 2011 — Crime, Foley
Foley police chief made an impressive annoucement Monday…Chief David Wilson says since 2007, crime in the city has been cut in half.
“We’ve really concentrated on crime and criminals and it’s starting to pay off,” says Wilson.
Four years ago, Foley had the highest crime rate in Baldwin County, but Wilson says since then, he’s hired more officers than any other local police agency, increasing police presence in high crime areas.
February 1st, 2011 — Crime, Robertsdale
A man who stole $91 from a Robertsdale Burger King restaurant has been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for the crime.
Christopher Lance Fontenot, 27, was sentenced Jan. 24 in a Baldwin Circuit Court by Judge Charles C. Partin.
Man gets 10 years for robbing Robertsdale Burger King of $91
February 1st, 2011 — Crime, Gulf Shores
A woman who left her 1-year-old and 2-year-old children home alone so she could find cigarettes this weekend faces a child endangerment charge.
Audrey M. Godwin, 20, of Gulf Shores told the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office that she left her children in her apartment Sunday while she “went out in search of a person to go buy her a pack of cigarettes,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Gulf Shores woman left toddlers home alone so she could find cigarettes
January 25th, 2011 — Crime, Gulf Shores
A Gulf Shores man has been indicted on multiple counts of securities fraud after being accused of fleecing at least nine Alabama investors out of more than $2.3 million.
According to the Alabama Securities Commission, an Alabama grand jury in September handed down a 54-count indictment against George Louis McCaw, 36, the owner of McCaw Construction & Services LLC in Gulf Shores.
Gulf Shores man accused of defrauding investors of more than $2.3 million
January 25th, 2011 — Crime, Fairhope
A 19-year-old Fairhope man who, armed with a machete, allegedly forced his father to drive him to a Daphne bank to withdraw money last week has been transferred to a mental health facility, deputies said.
Authorities said Zachary Lamar Barber was transferred Friday to the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation at Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon.
Man who allegedly used machete to kidnap father transferred to mental health facility
January 24th, 2011 — Crime, Gulf Shores
Baldwin County’s new District Attorney could announce tomorrow if former Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine will stand trial again for murder.
New DA Could Announce Nodine Retrial Plans Tomorrow
January 24th, 2011 — Crime
Alabama State Troopers released the name of the Baldwin County woman who led one of its officers on a high-speed chase through parts of Baldwin County and ended when she crashed her sports car in Atmore Wednesday afternoon.
According to Public Information Officer Trooper Greg Eubanks, Jessica S. Gambrell Stillwell was the driver of a white 1995 Chevrolet Camaro that one of the office’s troopers pulled over in Baldwin County for an apparent traffic violation. As the trooper approached the vehicle, Stillwell sped off leading the trooper on a high-speed chase on Interstate 65.
January 24th, 2011 — Crime, Magnolia Springs
A forged prescription and stolen pecans have garnered more trouble for a Magnolia Springs man with two prior felonies.
Brandon O’Neal Darty, 25, last week entered guilty pleas related to the two crimes committed last year. Authorities said that Darty in January 2010 tried to obtain a forged prescription for 120 oxycodone tablets.
Magnolia Springs man pleads guilty in drug case, pecan theft
January 24th, 2011 — Bay Minette, Crime, Foley
A Foley man arrested last March for making methamphetamine received a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty last week in Circuit Court while a Bay Minette woman gets suspended sentences and probation for distributing prescription painkillers.
Rickey Joe Clark Jr. was charged with first-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to an amended charge of second-degree manufacturing. In exchange, the Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office dropped charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In another case, a Bay Minette woman received probation in two cases involving illegally distributing prescription drugs in 2007.
Debra E. Ladnier, 44, appeared last week in Baldwin Circuit Court in Bay Minette, where she entered guilty pleas in each case.
Foley man, Bay Minette woman sentenced in separate drug cases
January 22nd, 2011 — Crime, Spanish Fort
Eight teenagers — five over the age of 18 and considered adults — are facing hunting-related charges that they shot deer from Jimmy Faulkner Boulevard in Spanish Fort just before midnight on Jan. 14.
According to Baldwin County court records, Andrew L. Dunnam and Branden Durant Gay, both of Daphne; Gerald B. McKenna and Michael P. Johnson, both of Bay Minette; and Brittney Scott of Spanish Fort were charged with one count each of hunting after dark and hunting from a public road. All five are 18.
January 21st, 2011 — Crime
A former Baldwin County District Attorney may prosecute the murder retrial of Steve Nodine. David Whetstone told FOX10 News Baldwin County’s new DA Hallie Dixon talked to him about the possibility of being a special prosecutor.
However, there are a couple of things that need to happen first. Dixon will have to decide to retry the case and Whetstone would have to be appointed special prosecutor by the Attorney General.
Former DA could prosecute Steve Nodine
Why would a special prosecutor be needed? Can the new DA or someone on her new staff not handle this case?
January 20th, 2011 — Crime, Foley
A 44-year-old Alabama man who admitted stabbing to death a fishing boat captain while on the boat in October 2009 has been sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison.
Thomas J. Poole IV, of Foley, Ala., had pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the fatal stabbing of 53-year-old Michael G. Holman, of Bon Secour, Ala., as part of a plea deal.
Foley man who admitted to stabbing fishing captain to death sentenced
January 20th, 2011 — Crime
Baldwin County Sheriff Hoss Mack says there is a local, crystal meth problem…but says thanks to tips from the community, his deputies are making a dent in the meth war.
January 20th, 2011 — Bay Minette, Crime
A Bay Minette man charged with raping and sodomizing a female child remains incarcerated on a $300,000 bail, according to Baldwin County Circuit Court records.
Kalvin Timothy Gatrey, 43, of Tall Pine Road, was indicted Dec. 28 on three counts of second-degree rape and one count of second-degree sodomy involving a female between the ages of 12 and 16
January 19th, 2011 — Crime, Daphne
A teenager is charged with kidnapping and robbery after say Daphne police say he abducted his father with a machete. Zachary Barber, 19, is accused of using a machete to force his adoptive father to drive from their home in Fairhope to Hancock Bank in Daphne.
