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Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

Driving gun battle in south Bibb results in 2 arrests

Pat Beall was just sitting down to breakfast at his Fulton Hills home at about 6:45 a.m. Friday when he heard the sound of multiple gunshots and screeching tires.

A dispute over a car accident last week escalated to a moving gunfight involving three vehicles that ended at Beall’s driveway in the pre-dawn darkness on Rogers Road in south Bibb County.

Two Macon men were shot and two others were arrested after investigators sorted through witness accounts and suspect interviews.

Mark Thomas Strickland, 26, was wounded in the face and back. Neal Adkison, 32, was shot in the neck, ear and shoulder. Both men were in stable condition late Friday at The Medical Center of Central Georgia.

Jonathan Russell Curtis, 23, of Jones County, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault. Curtis is currently being held at the Bibb County jail, the release stated.

Christopher Eugene Harris, 32, of Lizella, was arrested later in the day and charged with one count of aggravated assault. Investigators determined Harris first shot at Curtis on Fulton Mill Road near Michael Drive. The two had agreed to meet for a fistfight after having heated arguments over a friend who was involved in a wreck last week, said Bibb County sheriff’s Capt. Mike Smallwood.

After numerous interviews, investigators learned Curtis drove his black Mitsubishi 3000 to Fulton Mill Road, where Harris drove up behind him in a burgundy Ford pickup and fired at least three shots at Curtis from his vehicle, Smallwood said. Curtis drove off with Harris following him. Adkison and Strickland came along to back up Harris in the fight, and Adkison drove out of the Carr’s store parking lot at the corner of Mount Pleasant Church Road and joined in the chase with Strickland in the passenger seat of his white Honda Accord, the release stated.

The three vehicles sped down Michael Drive, past the brick entranceway to the Fulton Hills subdivision, where Curtis slid his Mitsubishi to a stop and Harris drove off as the Honda pulled beside Curtis, who opened fire on the two before driving off, the release stated.

A woman taking her children to school came upon the wounded men and drove them nearly a mile back to a store where she called 911 and flagged down deputies, Smallwood said. Strickland left the store and walked across the street to a relative’s house. Ambulances picked up both men near the store where numerous patrol cars swarmed the parking lot, which they strung with crime-scene tape.

By the time Beall made it to the street, only the bullet-riddled white Honda was at the base of his driveway where Michael Drive dead-ends into Rogers Road.

“I didn’t actually see (the shooting). I heard it, though. It was several gunshots, tires stopping rapidly and a lot of commotion going on,” Beall said.

Beall said he heard at least 15 to 20 shots and a loud sound at the end that sounded like a shotgun blast. Smallwood said Curtis was firing a 9 mm pistol while Harris was armed with a .380-caliber automatic handgun. Investigators believe Strickland had a gun but are trying to determine whether he fired it, Smallwood said.

Beall had no idea what had transpired on his normally tranquil street.

“It really surprised me, this happening in this area. It’s usually pretty quiet out here,” Beall said. “I’m glad they didn’t come up in our driveway here. If they had kept coming, they’d be right up in our backyard.”

Shell casings were scattered all over the road, and drops of blood dotted Beall’s driveway.

“We built the house here in ’05, and we thought we were moving in a quiet area. But it seems like we’ll have to go back where we come from,” Beall said jokingly.

His wife, son and two grandchildren watched a towing company haul away the white Honda with several bullet holes on the driver’s side and one spot on the passenger door that looked liked a bullet nearly penetrated the metal.

Crime scene investigators from the sheriff’s office gathered evidence and photographed the bloodstained car and blood splotches on Beall’s driveway.

Just a week earlier, the same team was investigating the fatal shooting of Jaymal Patel during an armed robbery outside the Raceway convenience store on Mercer University Drive near Interstate 475. In that case, Javone Malik Taylor, 16, was arrested and charged with felony murder, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by an underage person and criminal attempt to commit carjacking.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said Friday’s shooting victims are expected to recover from their wounds.

“I’m just concerned about all the violence in this community,” Jones said.

Smallwood said he finds the gunfight puzzling.

“It was totally uncalled for. There was just no rhyme or reason for it,” he said. “We’re still investigating until we get to the bottom of it.”

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.