Alabama State Rep. Louise Alexander had some terrifying moments this weekend when a police chase ended up inside her Bessemer business with her trapped inside.
Alexander, who has served District 56 since 2014 and whose daughter Kim is a Bessemer city councilwoman, had celebrated her grandson’s 22nd birthday with a family dinner at Perry’s Steakhouse on U.S. 280. Toward the end of the dinner, Alexander left to go to her business, Alexander Unity Flowers and Gifts on Ninth Avenue in Bessemer, to prepare a casket spray she was donating for a funeral on Saturday morning.
She parked her vehicle in front of the shop’s door and went inside to prepare the arrangement. At one point she had her cell phone in her hand and walked toward the front of the store to retrieve her other cell phone and happened to look out the window. “All I could see coming across the bridge down Ninth Avenue was two Bessemer police cars flying,’' Alexander said. She heard tires screeching and then it was chaos.
“Before I could get all the way to the back of the shop, Bessemer had come up in the shop,’' she said. The police vehicles struck her vehicle, knocking it and one of the police SUVs through the exterior wall of her shop and to the inside.
Alexander said a pedestal inside her business struck her in the back and propelled her toward the cooler. She used her hands to brace herself on the wall of the cooler door.
Not knowing what was going on, Alexander crawled to the back of the store and hid. “I didn’t know what was going on,’' she said. “I didn’t know if they got the person or if this person had a gun and was in here hiding.”
She called her brother who rushed to the store. It was only then, she said, that police were made aware that someone was inside the store. She said she was trapped inside for about 45 minutes until an officer came in and found her. The officers involved in the wreck had already been taken away from the scene, presumably to police headquarters to be questioned about the incident, she said.
“My brother said, ‘She’s in there. She’s trapped and can’t get out,’’' Alexander said.
“It was so scary,’' she said. “My brother said, ‘I have never heard you call for help like that.’”
Bessemer police Lt. Christian Clemons said the incident happened about 11 p.m. when officers tried to stop a vehicle in the area of 16th Street and Dartmouth Avenue for a stolen tag. The vehicle, a dark blue/black Dodge Charger with stolen Georgia tag RXP9551, did not stop for police lights and siren. The vehicle continued to flee, even turning off its lights to not be detected. The vehicle headed to the interstate and was not caught.
In response to the car fleeing, he said, two officers wrecked into each other and also caused damage to a parked car and Alexander’s building.
Some have criticized the chase on the social media. “It is important to realize the dangers associated with crimes that seem to be small on the surface,’' Clemons said. “Police know, by nature of our jobs, that stolen tags are there to hide other illegal activity. Stolen tags are commonly attached to stolen vehicles and stolen vehicles are attached to a wide variety of other crimes from thefts, burglaries, robberies, shootings and more.”
Alexander was taken to the hospital as a precaution. She said she has pain in her back, arms and legs but nothing is broken. She was released about 4 a.m. Saturday and will follow up with her doctor on Monday. She’s been resting at home but still in a lot of pain.
“I’m just glad to have my life,’' she said.
Clemons said no arrests have been made. Anyone with information on the stolen Georgia tag, the dark blue/black Dodge Charger and/or its occupants is asked to call Bessemer Police Department at 205-425-2411 or the anonymous tip line at 205-428-3541.
The Link LonkFebruary 01, 2021 at 02:33AM
https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2021/01/police-chase-ends-in-alabama-state-rep-louise-alexanders-bessemer-flower-shop.html
Police chase ends in Alabama State Rep. Louise Alexander’s Bessemer flower shop - AL.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=Flower&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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