The Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested three men early Friday morning after a high-speed car chase involving shots being fired at officers ended with spike strips in downtown Auburn, law enforcement said Saturday.
The Sheriff's Office arrested 25-year-old Marion Cortez Felder, from Fitzpatrick, Alabama; 26-year-old Alexander Darnel Daquan Felder, from Montgomery; and 42-year-old Ronji Duvan Vason, also from Montgomery. Investigators have charged all three men with attempted murder and reckless endangerment after authorities said they shot at a police officer.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office on Friday arrested Ronji Duvan Vason, 42 from Montgomery; Marion Cortez Felder, 25, from Fitzpatrick, Alabama; and Alexander Darnel Daquan Felder, 26, from Montgomery, on charges of reckless endangerment and attempted murder. Photos courtesy of the Lee County Detention Center.
At about 3 a.m. on Aug. 11, a package store owner in Notasulga in Macon County saw his alarm had been activated. When he arrived, he saw his store had been burglarized. The front door of the store had been pried open and masked individuals inside were stealing merchandise, the Sheriff's Office said.
The masked men pushed the owner aside and ran out of the business, jumping into their getaway car for what would turn into a car chase between the owner and the suspects and later with police. The owner rammed the suspects with his car and followed them until the suspects began shooting at him, the Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities said a Notasulga Police Officer saw the men wearing their masks, traveling at a high speed with their headlights off. The officer began pursuing with lights and sirens on when the suspects later began throwing liquor bottles at his vehicle, striking his front windshield.
On Highway 14 toward Auburn, authorities said the men began firing shots at the police officer, forcing him to return fire. That's when the Auburn Police Division deployed several cruisers to assist with the high-speed chase. In North College Street, officers put out spike strips ahead of the oncoming suspects, which flattened their tires.
Even with flat tires, they continued through downtown until ramming an iron fence behind a North College Street business. They got out of their cars and tried to flee before officers apprehended them. When apprehended, officers identified them as Marion and Alexander Felder and Vason.
A fourth possible suspect was thought to be involved, but officers did not locate him.
In the car, Lee County Sheriff's Office Investigators recovered masks, gloves and a 9 mm handgun thought to have been used in the chase. They also found cigarettes, liquor and an undisclosed amount of money from the vehicle — all thought to have been stolen from the package store in Notasulga, the Sheriff's Office said.
The suspects are being held in the Lee County Detention Center on $75,000 bonds for attempted murder and $1,000 bonds for reckless endangerment. The Notasulga Police Department has requested the Lee County Sheriff's Office also conduct an investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
Warrants for the arrest for the three individuals have also been filed in Macon County, charging them with burglary and theft in connection with the break-in at the package store. When released from the Lee County Jail, officers will be waiting from Notasulga to arrest them on those charges.
The case remains under investigation and more arrests are anticipated.
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Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
