High speed pursuit ends with crash

SARDIS - A convicted felon facing a probation violation from the Alabama Department of Corrections, as well as active warrants in both Winston and Cullman counties, was apprehended in Winston County Saturday, Feb. 15, after a motorcycle crash and manhunt with reported shots fired.
Randall Shane Wise, 46, of County Road 738, Cullman, faces charges from the Saturday incident, including receiving stolen property first degree in connection with the wrecked 2008 Yamaha crotch rocket allegedly stolen from Cullman County and receiving stolen property second degree in connection with a stolen Diamondback nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun Wise discarded after the crash, according to Winston County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Officer Carson Legg.
Wise was also charged Saturday with reckless endangerment, attempting to elude, certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm (due to his felony conviction), unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia because of a meth pipe in his pocket, felony warrants in Cullman County for attempting to elude and a warrant from the Department of Corrections for a probation violation dating back to July, 2022, Legg continued.
Wise was also issued two citations by the Winston County Sheriff’s Office for reckless driving for driving 130 miles per hour in a 35 MPH zone and no insurance on the motorcycle, Legg said.
Wise also faces an active warrant from the Winston County Sheriff’s Office for receiving stolen property first degree related to a separate case, according to Legg.
Around 4:30 p.m.,  Legg was contacted by Addison Police Officer Jordan Hood that a subject believed to have stolen a skid steerer from Walker County recovered in the Addison area, was seen in the area of County Road 39 in the Sardis community near Addison, Legg explained.
“The subject had already fled from Cullman County previously in the week.  Cullman County had two more felony warrants on him for attempting to elude,” Legg stated.
Legg responded to the residence where Wise was possibly seen, finding multiple people at the residence, so additional law enforcement was called in for back-up, he added.
“While I was waiting on the rest of the guys to show up, I heard a motorcycle crank up and turn onto County Road 39, accelerating very quickly,” Legg said.   
Legg clocked the motorcycle traveling 130 miles per hour, he said.
Legg pursued the speeding motorcycle, which appeared to be slowing down, then accelerated again, this time trying to pass Legg’s vehicle, Legg recalled.
“When he went around me, he lost control of it and ended up running into the ditch and losing balance, accelerating more,” Legg stated.
The motorcycle then struck a culvert and landed in the yard of a residence, at which point,Wise took off on foot, Legg said.
“As he was running, he reached into his waist band and pulled out a pistol and kind of pointed it in a backwards motion,” said Legg.  “At the time he pointed it back, there were two shots fired.”
Legg learned later that Wise was attempting to throw the gun backwards to discard it as he ran, with a property owner firing two shots as Wise was running through the yard, according to Legg.
“That’s when Officer Hood yelled, ‘Shots fired,’’’ said Legg. “I was able to quickly distinguish that it was not (Wise) shooting, that it was the residents shooting in the backyard.”
Legg pursued Wise on foot, letting dispatchers know that Wise had not fired the shots as Wise fled on foot through the yard, Legg stated.
About 1.5  miles into a wooded area, a pasture and another wooded area, Legg found Wise hiding between rocks underneath a bluff. “All I could see was his head sticking out from between two rocks,” said Legg.
Legg took Wise into custody at gunpoint.  Wise claimed to have suffered a knee injury during the ordeal, so he was assisted out of the woods by law enforcement, according to Legg.
Once out of the woods, Addison Police responded with a truck, which transported Wise to  medics with the Winston County Rescue Squad who evaluated Wise.  It was determined that he did not have injuries, so he was transported to the Winston County Jail in Double Springs, authorities said.
“Everybody responded in a timely manner from departments throughout the county.  It’s a good feeling knowing you’ve got guys that will have your back and  will come from wherever they need to come to make sure you are alright,” Legg pointed out.
“We activated as many deputies as possible to respond,” noted Winston County Sheriff Caleb Snoddy.
Addison Police Chief Mitchell Woodard noted he had been advised that law enforcement had been in pursuit of a motorcycle.
“The things we hear is shots fired,” Woodard stated. “We didn’t know that it wasn’t an officer involved in the shooting until after we got on the scene.
“When you have something where shots have been fired on a scene, we are going to go that way until the scene is secure to make sure everything is (OK),” stressed Double Springs Police Chief Andy Tucker.
Arley Police Chief Jerry Cummings stated he arrived on the scene to see Wise being escorted out of the woods.
“We try to get there as quick as we can and figure out what is going on,” Cummings said.
Also assisting at the scene were troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Alabama Marine Police, Alabama Game and Fish and the Sardis Fire Department.

* When someone is accused of a crime, it is merely an accusation until or unless the person is proven guilty in a court of law.