Loxley Alabama Police Again Searching for Police Car Thief
11/11/03 – Everything Alabama, The Associated Press
Loxley, Alabama – For the second time in 19 months, Loxley police are searching for a man who stole one of their cruisers with a weapon inside.
The patrol car was stolen around 7 p.m. Monday and found within about 90 minutes, according to two radio bulletins to area law enforcement agencies. Mayor Billy Middleton said police Chief Cliff Yetter told him the cruiser was found in Daphne.
The second radio bulletin identified the suspect as Edward Louis Woodruff, 23, of Mobile. Court records show Woodruff spent 60 days in jail in 1999 for harassment and another 30 days for third-degree assault. He has been arrested twice since then, but in those cases either charges were dropped or a grand jury declined to indict him.
In April 2002, David Lee Dickerson of Mobile grabbed a Loxley officer’s gun while the officer adjusted Dickerson’s handcuffs inside the police station, according to court testimony. Dickerson threatened the officer and a dispatcher, and then drove off in a cruiser, the officer testified.
Within moments, another officer spotted Dickerson and tried to pull him over. Shots were fired and Dickerson fled on foot. Authorities caught him seven hours later.
Dickerson was charged with attempted murder, first-degree escape, first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.