WAVU News

Church vandalism suspects

2012-06-19T08:52:00.001-05:00

The Rainbow City police chief held a news conference last night to announce that a teenager and his friend were responsible for spray-painting satanic symbols at a church over the weekend. According to the Gadsden Times, Chief Rick Hill said a 17-year-old boy admitted to the vandalism, telling police that he hates Christians. He was helped by a 20-year-old friend who was spending the night at the boy's house. Hill called the incident "just kids being stupid." But he did say authorities are looking into the possibility of prosecuting the vandalism as a hate crime.

Gadsden jet accident

2012-06-19T08:36:00.001-05:00

A small jet arriving from Gadsden went off the runway at an airport in DeKalb County, Georgia, injuring all four people on board. According to the FAA, it was a Hawker Beechcraft 40 that crashed through a fence after it left the runway around 10 o'clock Monday morning. The four people injured were taken to hospitals; their conditions were not immediately known. FAA records show the jet is registered to a corporation in Centre.

Anniston shootings

2012-06-19T08:28:00.001-05:00

A series of shootings happened in Anniston on Sunday and the Anniston Star reports police think they might all be related. One person was injured; a 28-year-old man told police he was talking on the phone when a vehicle drove by and an unknown person opened fire. The victim was wounded in the leg and was treated at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital. Elsewhere, somebody was shooting at the Norwood Homes apartments and hit two apartments and five cars, causing more than two-thousand dollars in damage.

Brody's Law conviction

2012-06-19T08:19:00.001-05:00

Marshall County jurors have convicted a man of capital murder in the slaying of his wife and her unborn child at a car wash three years ago.The trial of Jessie Phillips was believed to be the first test of a state law that allows a person suspected of killing a pregnant woman to be charged with two murders if the fetus also dies. Prosecutors argued that Phillips killed his wife, Erica Droze, and her unborn child at a car wash in 2009. The shooting followed an argument that kept escalating.Jurors deliberated about four hours before convicting Phillips on Monday.Phillips was tried under a law called "Brody's Law." It was named because of the 2005 shooting death in Albertville of Brandy Parker and her unborn son, named Brody.

Church vandalism

2012-06-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

Police are looking for vandals who spray-painted satanic symbols at a church in Rainbow City. The graffiti was found on the rear of the main building at Christ Central Church, on an outbuilding, and on a church van. According to the Gadsden Times, the graffiti included the numbers 666, along with upside-down crosses and phrases including "satan rules." The vandalism occurred sometime betwween 5:40 PM Friday and 7:30 AM Saturday.

Shooter still at large

2012-06-18T09:27:00.001-05:00

A man wanted for shooting two brothers in Gadsden last Wednesday remains at large. Gadsden police say 23-year-old Jonterio Dante Walker is considered to be armed and dangerous. He's charged with murder in the shooting death of 20-year-old Corion Jedrante Jackson and attempted murder for shooting and critically injuring 21-year-old Jeffery Montez Jackson. The shootings occurred last Wednesday outside an apartment building off South 14th Street. Walker is described as a light-skinned, black male, 5-10, 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. If you know anything about his whereabouts, contact the Gadsden Police Department.

Rally Dixie in Gadsden

2012-06-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

Gadsden is a stopping point for a road rally that raises money for multiple sclerosis. Rally Dixie 2012 will start tomorrow in Nobleville Indiana with some 80 cars and headed for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Gadsden on Wednesday. After an overnight stay, they'll start their next leg on Thursday morning, taking off from Downtown gadsden. Broad street will be blocked off from 7-30 a-m to 9-30 a-m at fourth and fifth streets for participants to get ready to take off. The public is invited out on Thursday morning to see the cars and meet the drivers. The 14-hundred mile rally eventually winds up at Fort Walton Beach in Florida.

Cherokee County accidents

2012-06-18T09:07:00.001-05:00

Three people were injured in two accidents in Cherokee County Friday. 53-year-old John Sullivan of Cedar Bluff was injured in an apparent hit and run on Highway 411 near Mile Marker 245. Sullivan was driving a 2002 Kawasaki; authorities were looking for the driver of a green SUV that hit him. Later, a single-vehicle wreck on County Road 103 injured two children, ages 10 and six. The driver of the 1999 Chevy, 31-year-old Steven Boswell of Rome, Georgia, was not injured.

Explosive maker arrested

2012-06-15T14:50:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a tip phoned in by a citizen, Etowah County sheriff's deputies have arrested a man for allegedly making an explosive. Deputies got the tip on Wednesday and arrested 26-year-old Josh Huie on Thursday. They found the explosive near Delmont Road. Huie reportedly confessed to making the device and was being held in the Etowah County Detention Center on a 50-thousand dollar cash bond.

DeKalb sex offender arrests

2012-06-15T14:33:00.001-05:00

DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies arrested two men this week for violations of sex offender regulations. 32-year-old Richard Holcomb, a registered sex offender from Dutton, was arrested for working at a business too close to a school in Rainsville. 28-year-old Billy Joe Busby, 28, a registered sex offender from Fyffe, was arrested for not having a current identification card or driver’s license showing his present address. As Sheriff Jimmy Harris said “There’s more to it than just registering. Sex offenders have to comply with regulations on an ongoing basis."

May unemployment

2012-06-15T09:29:00.001-05:00

New unemployment figures are out today and they show that Alabama's jobless rate was up last month--going from seven-point-two percent in April to seven-point-four percent in May. Department of Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees said the increase was expected, with new graduates entering the workforce and education staff not working during the summer months. Locally, unemployment rates were up slightly in Marshall, Etowah, Calhoun and Blount counties and were down slightly in DeKalb and Cherokee counties.

Missing teen found

2012-06-15T09:15:00.001-05:00

A missing Etowah County teenager has been found. Southside police announced Thursday that 16-year-old Chelsey Burden was located and was unharmed. Chelsey had been missing since Monday.

Four DeKalb meth arrests

2012-06-15T09:07:00.001-05:00

Instead of the stolen four-wheeler they were looking for, DeKalb County investigators wound up arresting four people on Wednesday. The search for the four-wheeler led them to the home on County Road 142 in the New Harmony community where they found a meth lab--actually eight one-pot meth labs along with 11 marijuana plants and drug paraphernalia. The residents, 40-year-old Gary Neal Martin and 47-year-old Donna Gail Martin, were arrested--as was a visitor, 43-year-old Bobby Lewis Rains, who was found to have meth and fled, but was found hiding in his Geraldine home Thursday morning. Finally, the search for Rains led to a house on County Road 568, where 40-year-old Renee Stapler was found to be in possession of meth and arrested.

CDP director killed

2012-06-15T08:57:00.001-05:00

The director of the Center for Domestic Preparedness in McClellan was struck and killed while riding his bicycle work Thursday morning. 37-year-old Derek Thomas Jensen was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident, which is under investigation happened on Golden Springs Road around 6:30 AM. Jensen was hit by a Chevy Silverado truck driven by 22-year-old Ethan Norton of Heflin. In an email to the Anniston Star, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate called the death of Jensen "a tragic loss," adding that he "represented the best in all of us: a commitment to his community and to making the United States a safer place to live."

Arab fatal wreck

2012-06-15T06:21:00.001-05:00

An Arab man was killed and two other people were injured in an accident involving four vehicles. Arab police say it happened Thursday afternoon on Alabama 69. 32-year-old Brent Allen Jones of Dusty Drive was in a Honda S2000, waiting to turn onto Mayapple Road when he was rear-ended by a Chevy Suburban. Jones' car spun into the path of a Chevy pickup, which hit still another vehicle. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who was driving the Suburban and a boy were hospitalized. The wreck remains under investigation.

Gadsden fight and stabbing

2012-06-14T14:19:00.001-05:00

There was a fight at a home in Gadsden this morning and a woman who tried to break it up wound up getting stabbed. Police say two people were involved in the argument and when the woman stepped in to intervene, one of them, a male, cut her in the back wiht a knife. She was taken to Gadsden Regional Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. A suspect was arrested.

Gadsden school copper theft

2012-06-14T09:41:00.001-05:00

Gadsden police have arrested at least one person in connection with a copper theft at Floyd Elementary School. It was discovered Wednesday morning that someone had taken copper from seven or more air conditioning units on the roof of the school. The superintendent of Gadsden City Schools, Doctor Ed MIller, says iepairing the units will cost at least 30-thousand dollars.

Missing Etowah County girl

2012-06-14T09:31:00.001-05:00

A teenage girl from Etowah County is missing. 16-year-old Chelsey Burden of Southside was last seen Monday. She is 5-6, 140 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. If you know anything about the whereabouts of Chelsey Burden, contact the Southside Police Department.

Calhoun copper theft

2012-06-14T09:22:00.001-05:00

Copper thieves have been at work in northern Calhoun County. The sheriff's office says the target was Roberts Chapel Baptist Church on Maxwellborn Road south of Piedmont. Sometime last month, thieves took copper piping from the church’s heating and air conditioning units, propane tanks and a light switch. They caused extensive damage although no dollar estimate was immediately available.

Blount County fatal accident

2012-06-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

Alabama State Troopers are investigating an accident in Blount County that left one person dead and two injured. It happened around 9:30 Tuesday night on Highway 79. 53-year-old Eddie Terrell Dutton of Hayden was killed. 20-year-old Clay Fountain and 18-year-old Logan Self, both of Oneonta, were injured and taken to UAB.

No ATVs on the street

2012-06-14T08:55:00.001-05:00

If you don't want to get a ticket from Albertville police, don't let your kids ride all-terrain vehicles or golf carts on city streets. According to WAAY-TV, police chief Doug Pollard says if his officers catch a child riding an a highway or public roadway they'll get a warning and the parents will get a call; if it happens again, the parents will be ticketed. The problem tends to increase in the summer. A University of Alabama study indicates that four-wheeler related injuries are highest among the 10 to 19 age group. Police say kids should not ride without a helmet.

DeKalb drug busts

2012-06-13T07:26:00.001-05:00

Two traffic stops turned into drug busts for DeKalb County sheriff's deputies early Tuesday morning. They pulled over a vehicle that was swerving southbound on Alabama Highway 11 at County Road 51. They say the driver tossed something out of the window that turned out to be a container holding methamphetamine and a small green pill called a ladder. 26-year-old Chad Roberts of Fort Payne was arrested on a drug possession charge. And deputies picking up a chase from Etowah County got help from Fort Payne police who used spikes to stop a car heading north on Highway 11 at County Road 83. A bag containing meth, drug paraphernalia and a firearm was seized and 28-year-old Annette Carter of Woodville was arrested on a number of charges.

Etowah fatal wreck details

2012-06-13T06:59:00.001-05:00

The Alabama Highway Patrol has released more information about a fatal three-car accident that happened in Etowah County this past weekend. Troopers say the wreck happened on Highway 278, seven miles west of Attalla, shortly before noon on Sunday. The person who was killed has been indentified as 22-year-old Edith Aguinaga of Decatur, a passenger in one of the vehicles. Two other people were injured, including an 18-month old child. No word on their conditions.

Grand jury gets pastor case

2012-06-13T06:53:00.001-05:00

A grand jury will review the case against an Anniston pastor accused of stabbing his brother. 55-year-old David Allen Rice is pastor of First Presbyterian Church on Henry Road. He was arrested May 28th after police found his brother, 53-year-old Philip Rice in the pastor's home on Homarda Drive unconscious with stab wounds to his arm and chest. Philip Rice has since undergone surgery and been released from Regional Medical Center. According to the Anniston Star, staff at David Allen Rice's church would not comment as to whether he is still acting as pastor.

Murder sentence

2012-06-12T09:36:00.001-05:00

A Hokes Bluff man convicted of murder has been sentenced. 27-year-old Jeremy Wayne Grissom pleaded guilty in April to murder and abuse of a corpse in the 2010 death of his girlfriend. Authorities say Monica Michelle Payne, who was 28, was beaten with a weapon and a fist. Her body was wrapped in duct tape and plastic and placed in a duffel bag inside the house where she lived with Grissom. On Monday, Circuit Judge David Kimberly sentenced Grissom to 37 years in prison.