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Attempted Murder Suspect Captured in Macon County

By Jessie Williams
A man awaiting trial for the attempted murder of a Florence Police detective was captured in Macon County after escaping from an Alabama detention center.

According to Macon County Sheriff Mark Gammons, 43-year-old Christopher Wayne Kilpatrick, was apprehended in Red Boiling Springs Monday, December 18, following a wreck that involved one other vehicle and left two people injured.
Sheriff Gammons explained that his department began receiving reports of a vehicle driving recklessly.
“Detective Donnie Crawford observed the vehicle traveling on Highway 52 East near Coleytown Market,” he stated. “The vehicle was a green, Dodge Dakota with Alabama tags. When Detective Crawford ran the tags, it was confirmed that the vehicle was reported stolen in Alabama. The vehicle continued traveling recklessly towards Red Boiling Springs, almost hitting another vehicle head on.”
Red Boiling Springs Police Chief Kevin Woodard and RBS Patrolman Mark Bartley were waiting, ready to assist with the traffic stop.
“We attempted to do a rolling stop and to get him to slow down,” said Chief Woodard. “I was on the shoulder and Patrolman Bartley was in the travel lane going east bound, when the vehicle came into sight. We took off to get up to speed so we could gradually get him to stop.
At that point, he sped up, but he came around me on the right hand side in the ditch line. He almost side swiped me, when he lost control and began spinning sideways. All of a sudden his truck caught traction and shot him straight across the road. That’s when he struck the oncoming vehicle in the side.”
When the vehicle came to rest on the opposite side of the road, Patrolman Bartley tried to get Kilpatrick out of the truck, but he pulled away from the officer and his right hand reached around behind him, despite authorities telling him to show them his hands.
“At this point, I deployed my taser, which was successful, and we were able to take him into custody,” remarked Chief Woodard.
The two people in the vehicle hit by Kilpatrick were transported for their injuries.
Once Kilpatrick was taken into police custody, it was learned he had escaped from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Alabama, where he was awaiting a February jury trial for the 2016 attempted murder of Florence Police detective Michael Price.
According to a report on AL.com, Kilpatrick was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, December 17 – and this escape was not his first. The inmate reportedly escaped once before in April 2017.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told AL.com Kilpatrick escaped in “the same way” both times he broke out of the detention center – by removing a door to access a plumbing chase between cells in the facility, which allowed him to get into the attic, from where he reached the roof via exhaust vents.
Kilpatrick will soon be extradited back to Alabama.
“It appeared that Mr. Kilpatrick had alcohol in his system and was possibly under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of his arrest here in Macon County,” said Sheriff Gammons.