By Ray King
A $250,000 bond was set Wednesday for a Jefferson County man currently on parole for multiple charges including attempted murder on drug and weapons charges.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Albert Simmons Jr., 31, with felony fleeing, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver.
Reading from a probable cause affidavit from White Hall Police Major Mickey Buffkin, Deputy Prosecutor Beth Carson said a White Hall Police Officer was patrolling on Sheridan Road Monday night when he saw a Dodge truck that had a non-working headlight and initiated a traffic stop. Simmons was driving the truck and after he told the officer he did not have his driver’s license, Simmons put the truck in gear and fled the scene.
A pursuit followed that ended when Simmons hit a fence on Princeton Pike and crashed, and Simmons fled on foot, throwing a purple Crown Royal bag down as he ran into a wooded area. Buffkin reported that the bag contained two plastic bags, one containing a white powder substance and the second 32 individually wrapped baggies containing a white powder substance. The powder tested positive for cocaine.
Carson said when the truck was searched, officers found a nine-millimeter handgun with four rounds in it and a Uzi-type automatic weapon with 24 rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber. When Simmons was searched, officers found a piece of tin foil that contained a white powder substance determined to be powder cocaine.
At the White Hall Police Department, officers saw Simmons pull a small plastic baggie out of his clothing, pour a white, powder substance on a table and snort it. No additional contraband was found during a second search.
The Department of Community Corrections has placed a parole hold on Simmons pending a hearing to determine if he should he sent back to complete his sentence.
