TUSCUMBIA

No one injured in bus-car wreck

Police said no one was injured in a mid-afternoon wreck that involved a school bus filled with children.

“It could have been a lot worse; thankfully it wasn’t,” Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan said.

The accident occurred at 3 p.m. on U.S. 72 west of the Bear Creek Bridge in an area called “Gasoline Alley.”

Logan said a Colbert County school bus was stopped while unloading a student at a residence when it was struck in the rear by a 1998 Ford Mustang. The bus was from New Bethel Junior High School and was filled with about 20 children, grades K-6.

Reports indicate both vehicles were traveling east.

According to witnesses, the bus driver had stopped and activated all stop signs and lights on the bus.

“The driver of the car, Donte Mason, 23, Cherokee, failed to yield the stop signs and hit the bus in the rear,” Logan said. “(Mason) swerved at the last minute and clipped the rear end. If not, it could have been very bad.”

Logan said four sixth-graders were sitting in the backseats of the bus.

MOULTON

Home burglaries land man in jail

A Lawrence County man is in jail after being charged in connection with two residential burglaries.

Curtis Alan West, 24, Town Creek, is charged with two counts of third-degree burglary and one count each of first-degree theft of property and third-degree theft of property, Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Mitchell said.

West is accused of breaking into a house in the Hatton community and a second house in Mount Hope.

Mitchell said investigators developed West as a suspect after they learned he reportedly had been at both residences just before the burglaries. He is accused of taking a television, cash and tools.

West was in the Lawrence County Jail on Tuesday without bail.

MOULTON

Town Creek man charged in theft

A Town Creek man is in jail after he was accused of taking more than $15,000 in cash from a Lawrence County residence.

Austen Larry Williams, 23, 1089 Lawrence 585, Town Creek, is charged with third-degree burglary, first-degree theft of property and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Mitchell said.

Williams is accused of breaking into a residence on Lawrence 257 in Town Creek in August.

The sheriff said a safe containing more than $15,000 was taken from the residence.

Williams also faces charges of distribution of a controlled substance after he was accused of selling controlled prescription medication to an undercover drug agent.

Williams was in the Lawrence County Jail on Tuesday without bail.

BIRMINGHAM

Moulton resident indicted for theft

A Lawrence County man and a Birmingham man were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in separate cases involving delaying mail delivery and stealing from the mail.

Erwin M. Watson, 28, Moulton, is charged with delay of mail and mail theft by a postal employee. The thefts occurred Nov. 4, 2010, while Watson was working as a mail carrier at the Decatur Post Office, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Lennie Matthew Williams Jr., 25, Birmingham, is charged with delaying mail delivery and stealing from the mail between Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, 2010.

Williams worked as a mail handler in the Birmingham Processing and Distribution Center Annex.

The cases were investigated by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.

The maximum sentence for mail theft by a postal employee and for delay and destruction of mail is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

russellville

Man, teen face burglary charges

Authorities have arrested two people they believe were involved in a recent rash of commercial burglaries.

Aaron Wayne King, 20, 3508 Oakwood Blvd., Sheffield, and a 16-year-old Russellville boy are each charged with seven counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of first-degree theft of property, two counts of second-degree theft of property and one count of first-degree receiving stolen property, Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said.

Hargett said the arrests were made Monday.

The arrests stem from a rash of business burglaries that have occurred since August.

Russellville police Lt. Scotty Lowery said investigators were able to obtain enough evidence for a search warrant. He said officers executed the warrant on a residence on Beech Avenue in Russellville.

“When we got inside the house, we found several thousands of dollars worth of items that had been reported stolen in these recent burglaries,” Lowery said.

He said there were electronics, tools, computers, televisions, tires and rims.

King is being held in Russellville City Jail without bail. The 16-year-old is in the Tennessee Valley Juvenile Detention Center in Tuscumbia.

REPORTS

Lauderdale County sheriff

Burglaries

An air conditioning unit was taken from a residence in the 4300 block of Huntsville Road.

Criminal mischief

A business was damaged in the 3600 block of Alabama 20, Florence.

A mailbox was damaged in the 1600 block of Lauderdale 7, Florence.

Florence police

Breaking and entering

A GPS unit and MP3 player were taken from a car parked in the 1500 block of Helton Drive.

Two 12-inch speakers, a 12-disc DVD changer and a 400-watt amplifier were taken from a pickup parked in the 2200 block of Florence Boulevard.

A AM/CM/CD/TV combination was taken from a car parked in the 300 block of South Eclipse Street.

A satellite radio was taken from a car parked in the 1300 block of Ingleside Drive.

A case of beer was taken from a car parked in the 900 block of West College Street.

Thefts

A laptop was taken from a residence in the 1100 block of Atlanta Street.

A leaf blower, edger and weed trimmer were taken from a residence in the 100 block of North Franklin Street.

A 2000 black Pontiac Grand Prix was taken from the 1100 block of Carver Homes.

Women’s clothing and a pair of shoes were taken from a business in the 300 block of Cox Creek Parkway.

A propane heater was taken from a residence in the 400 block of North Locust Street.

A bicycle was taken from a residence in the 1900 block of Holiday Drive.

Criminal mischief

Wiring was damaged in a building in the 100 block of West Mobile Street.

Three heating and cooling units were damaged in a 1200 block of College Street.

A 2009 black Kia was damaged while parked in the 500 block of East Tuscaloosa Street.