Thursday speeder faces multiple charges

Published 9:00 am Saturday, May 12, 2018

VALLEY — A Sylacauga, Ala. man has been charged with attempting to elude law enforcement, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest after leading Valley police officers on a high-speed chase north along Highway 29 into Lanett Thursday afternoon.

Brian Lamar Preston, 33, was apprehended by two officers from Valley and two from Lanett a short distance away from his Jeep Cherokee after overturning it on a vacant lot off Highway 29 in Lanett.

Shortly after 1 p.m. EDT, Valley officers observed Preston’s vehicle heading north past Valley High School and that it did not have a tag on the back of the vehicle. They got behind the vehicle for a routine traffic stop to ask about the tag, but before the blue light could be turned on, the car took off at a high rate of speed, bypassed Johnson’s Curve by turning west onto 26th Avenue, then onto 61st Street and back to 29, where the driver had a straight shot to Lanett.

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Lanett officers were waiting with spike strips on the section of the highway that passes in front of the Lanett Mill site. The driver attempted to avoid that by turning onto South 11th Street next to A Cut Above. Traveling at a high rate of speed, the car turned over on the vacant lot. Uninjured, the driver exited the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot.

Four officers tracked him down around 50 yards from the overturned car. An unnamed passenger in the vehicle received a broken wrist when the car overturned. He was taken by Lanett EMS to the hospital for treatment.

There could be additional charges to come in this incident.

In other incidents in Valley, William Tell Young, 56, was charged with public intoxication.

In an incident being investigated by Valley officers, identity theft was reported on Denna Drive.

Sheriff’s office reports

LaFAYETTE — Three people were arrested in Chambers County on Thursday. According to Chambers County Sheriff’s Office reports,

Nicholas Woods, 24, of Opelika, Ala. has been charged with failure to pay for driving without a license;

Skyler Strickland, 20, of Auburn, Ala. has been charged with failure to appear in court on a charge of theft of property, first degree, and

Leonard Darby, 50, of West Point has been charged with theft of property, second degree.