Alabama Walmart shoplifting suspect runs over wife with U-Haul
Blount County AL January 17 2020
A weekend shoplifting incident at the Blount County Walmart turned deadly when one of the suspects was run over by her husband as they fled lawmen.
Oneonta police were dispatched shortly before 8 p.m. to the store on a report of a shoplifting incident in progress. Chief Charles Clifton said the couple had been loading items into a cart for a lengthy period of time and had been watched on camera.
After gathering about $1,500 worth of goods in their cart, they left the store without paying and headed to a U-Haul they had stationed in the parking lot. Before they could fully load the items into the truck, they spotted police arriving at the scene and took off.
An Alabama Law Enforcement Agency state trooper spotted the truck and tried to stop it on Alabama Highway 75 north of Oneonta, said Senior Trooper Chuck Daniel. Daniel said the trooper was not in pursuit of the vehicle at any point during the incident.
The U-Haul was driven by 32-year-old Jimmy Russell Smith, who lives in the Birmingham area. As he was attempting to pull over on the shoulder, his passenger, which he described to authorities as his wife, tried to exit the slow-moving vehicle, Daniel said.
Crystal Lynn Carlson, 34, of Adamsville, fell underneath the vehicle and was killed.
Oneonta police have charged Smith with second-degree theft of property/shoplifting. He already had an outstanding warrant for attempting to elude. He remains in the Blount County Jail on $15,672.10 bond.
Daniel said ALEA is the lead agency on the post-incident investigation at the request of Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey. Casey said the case could be presented to a grand jury for any potential additional charges against Smith.
