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Tag: Drunk Driving

Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Pastor Jamie Steele Charged With Driving While Impaired

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
pastor jamie steele

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Jamie Steele, pastor of East Taylorsville Baptist Church in Taylorsville, North Carolina, was charged with driving while impaired, reckless driving with wanton disregard, discharging a firearm in city limits, open container of alcohol, damage to property, carrying a concealed weapon, going armed to the terror of the public, driving left of center, exceeding safe speed and unsafe passing.

The Hickory Daily Record reports:

James “Jamie” Oliver Steele, 53, of Taylorsville, is charged with driving while impaired, reckless driving with wanton disregard, discharging a firearm in city limits, open container of alcohol, damage to property, carrying a concealed weapon, going armed to the terror of the public, driving left of center, exceeding safe speed and unsafe passing, Taylorsville police said in a news release.

The crash occurred along West Main Avenue in Taylorsville on Jan. 24. Steele was charged on Friday.

A white Toyota Tacoma truck was traveling west along West Main Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. on Jan. 24, police said. The vehicle veered to the left and struck four utility poles near the intersection of West Main Avenue and Seventh Street SW. The crash broke at least two of the utilities poles and left powerlines strewn across the road, causing the road to be shut down, Taylorsville police said.

While emergency responders were present, the driver of the Tacoma pulled out a semiautomatic pistol, Taylorsville police said. Steele was identified by Taylorsville police as the driver.

“While I was looking at the power lines down, I noticed several first responders and the witnesses running away from the vehicle involved in the accident,” Taylorsville police Lt. Kevin Elder said in the release. “I could hear (Alexander County Sheriff’s Deputy) Caudle yelling on the radio; however, I could not make out what he was saying. I spoke with Adrian Foster who came up to me and he stated that the driver had just pulled out a gun and began to point it at the people around and put the gun to his head.”

Taylorsville police said Steele was threatening to harm himself. Following the crash, the vehicle was surrounded by Taylorsville police officers and the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to the release.

One shot was fired from inside the wrecked vehicle. No one was injured, Taylorsville police said. It was nearly one hour before Steele surrendered to police, Taylorsville police said.

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West Main Avenue was closed for more than six hours as the utility poles and lines were repaired.

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Pastor David Jones Accused of Drunk Driving and Attempted Murder

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments
arrested

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

David Jones, pastor of Hilton Oaks Baptist Church in Ferndale, Michigan, stands accused of drunk driving and attempted murder. This is the ninth drunk driving charge against Jones.

ABC-12 reports:

An Oakland County pastor is accused of trying to murder two Arenac County sheriff’s deputies by ramming his car into theirs.

The scary situation happened earlier this week just off I-75 at the Alger exit in Arenac County.

The pastor, who we’ve learned has had eight prior drinking and driving offenses, is in jail tonight facing up to life in prison if convicted.

The deputies were called to a convenience store for a suspicious situation involving a man in a car, but when they got there, they say the man would not cooperate, drove off, smashed into a building, and then into the deputies SUV.

The Arenac County deputies were called to the Forward’s Convenience Store near Alger at around one o’clock Wednesday morning where investigators say 57-year-old David Jones sat in his car.

“Not wanting to cooperate with the deputies who could tell he was intoxicated, refusing to roll down his window, refusing to do anything,” says Arenac County Undersheriff Don McIntyre.

They say Jones then drove off, across the highway, into the parking lot of the store across the street, eventually ramming the backside of the business.

“Struck their building, turned his vehicle towards deputies, accelerated, smashing our patrol car, luckily our deputies were not injured.” says McIntyre.

Deputies had to break the windows on Jones’s car because he still refused to get out after the crash. Jones faces ten charges in all, including attempted murder.

“You turn your vehicle around and intentionally collide with a police vehicle, you are going to be charged with attempted murder on police,” McIntyre says.

Jones has told an attorney that he is a pastor and a website indicates he’s the pastor at the Hilton Oaks Baptist Church in Ferndale.

Court papers indicate he has previously been arrested eight times for drinking and driving offenses, his most recent in August in Oakland County. He is suspected of driving drunk in the Arenac County incident. McIntyre credits his deputies for possibly saving lives.

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Pastor Richard Shaka Drunkenly Drives Wrong Way and Kills Young Woman

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment

pastor richard shaka

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Richard Shaka, retired pastor of All Nations Christian Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota , stands accused of drunkenly driving the wrong way on a Minnesota Highway, killing 30-year-old Jenna Bixby.

CBS Minnesota reports:

Today we’ve learned much more about the driver who was going the wrong way down a Twin Cities highway last night when he killed the driver of another car.  The wrong-way driver was a pastor of a church. The victim was a 911 dispatcher.

The State Patrol says 30-year-old Jenna Bixby was driving to work at the Minneapolis 911 Center around 8 last night when the crash happened. Investigators say a driver was going north in the southbound lane of 252 in Brooklyn Center.

They say that driver is Richard Shaka, the pastor of a Northeast Minneapolis church — and they believe he had been drinking and driving.  He is now in critical condition at North Memorial.

State Patrol officers say when they got on a scene, they smelled alcohol coming from Richard Shaka’s body and they plan to seek a charge of criminal vehicular homicide.

Since Jenna Bixby was a little girl, she’s had a lifelong passion for emergency responders.  She got her degree in law enforcement then got a job as a 911 dispatcher with the city of Minneapolis.

“She loved helping other people, that’s why she was working in 911 dispatch,” her husband Dan told WCCO.

From his home, Jenna’s traumatized husband explained what happened Saturday night.

“She was on her way to work to help other people, to answer these types of calls for car accidents and anything else that — other emergencies that people need help with,” he said.

And suddenly an emergency call came in on her behalf. It was too late, Jenna Bixby was gone. The Bixbys have police scanners in their home so Daniel had heard the call himself.

“When the two state troopers showed up at my door, I knew, they didn’t have to tell me,” he said.

It was a fatal accident. A driver was driving the wrong way and hit Jenna head on.

Turns out that 72-year-old driver was well-known in the local faith community. His name is Richard Shaka. Pastor Baba Letang now leads the church he retired from, All Nations Christian Assembly.

“He was the one who started this church, brought so many people together over the years,” he said. “He’s touched a lot of lives including my own life.”

Pastor Baba didn’t know the details of the crash until we told him. His face froze when heard a young woman lost her life.

“This is sad,” he said in disbelief.

Pastor Baba says he never knew of his friend drinking alcohol.

“I would be shocked to be very honest with you,” he said. “I can’t believe it, I mean you mentioning it I can’t believe that alcohol would be an issue here.”

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Bruce Gerencser