BY CHIEF P.K. JOHNSON, MILLBROOK POLICE DEPARTMENT
Cecil J. Messer, 56, of Selma has been charged with Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement, Reckless Endangerment, Assault 3rd Degree and Resisting Arrest after a high-speed pursuit began in Millbrook Saturday morning, and ended in Autauga County.
On Saturday morning, November 16, 2019, at approximately 3:25 AM, a Millbrook Police Officer conducted a traffic stop on Cobbs Ford Road, near I-65. The officer asked the driver to step out of the vehicle to administer some field sobriety tests. The driver refused and drove off, merging northbound onto I-65. The suspect vehicle, a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck, turned eastbound onto Highway 14, continuing eastbound until turning northbound onto Old Prattville Road to County Road 39. The vehicle continued into Autauga County, at times reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
Several times during the pursuit the driver of the Dodge pickup truck slammed on his breaks in an apparent attempt to have law enforcement vehicles collide with his vehicle. The pursuit terminated when the offender lost control of his vehicle, ran off the roadway in the 500 block of County Road 68 in Autauga County and into a ravine adjacent to the railroad tracks. The vehicle did sustain damage and was smoking. Officers ordered the subject out of the vehicle. The subject refused to exit the vehicle and ignored officers’ continued commands for him to show them his hands.
Due to the condition of the suspect’s vehicle and the possibility of a vehicle fire officers deployed less lethal weapons in an attempt to gain compliance and take the offender into custody. The offender continued to resist officer efforts to take him into custody, placing him and several law enforcement officers in danger. Officers deployed a chemical irritant, which caused the offender, later identified as Cecil J. Messer, a 56-year-old Selma resident, to exit the vehicle. Messer continued to be combative towards officers, actively resisting arrest.
Officers used that force necessary to affect the arrest. Messer was checked by paramedics from Haynes Ambulance service, as were several of the officers. Messer was transported to the Elmore County Jail, being charged with Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement, Reckless Endangerment, Assault 3rd Degree and Resisting Arrest. Messer remains in custody under a $4,000 bond.
We are extremely fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed as a result of this individual actions and his reckless disregard for his own life or anyone else’s. According to the officer that made the original traffic stop, this individual made a statement that he was on probation with federal law enforcement and he couldn’t get into trouble. Well, I’d say he’s gotten into a whole lot more trouble after his actions on Saturday morning.
We have confirmed that Messer is in fact on probation and we are in the process of attempting to communicate with his probation officials and make sure that they are aware of this incident. On our end we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this individual is prosecuted to the fullest extent that the law allows. People are not going to flee from law enforcement, placing themselves, our officers and the motoring public in danger and then resist arrest, assaulting our officers in the process………and think they’re not going to spend significant time incarcerated should they be found guilty.
I want to thank the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this case. I’m proud of our officers for their professionalism during this incident and for taking this subject into custody under extremely difficult and hazardous circumstances. A couple of them got nicked up just a bit but none sustained any major injuries. Most importantly, no one was seriously hurt because of this individual’s actions and our people went home safely to their families. That is a blessing for which we are all grateful for. The Lord certainly looks out for the unwise and law enforcement. Saturday morning is proof of that!
