Sex offender fleeing police causes school lockdown

Published 1:56 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A Plantersville man was arrested Tuesday after fleeing from authorities in Chilton County and forcing Dallas County High School to be on lockdown Monday afternoon.

Vernon Scott Carter, 31, who lists an address in Plantersville, faces a charge of failure to register as a sex offender, a class C felony.

Deputy Derrick Bone with the Chilton County Sheriff’s Department attempted to track down Carter after receiving a tip from someone living in Plantersville, who inquired if Carter was a registered sex offender.

Bone realized Carter had failed to register his current address, a violation of Alabama’s laws for sex offenders, and attempted to serve failure to register papers on Monday to Carter.

Once Bone made contact with Carter, Carter took off running on foot.

Bone said the area where Carter started running was near Dallas County High School, which prompted the school to be placed on lockdown for roughly one hour around 1 p.m.

Officers from Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Maplesville Police Department and Chilton County Sheriff’s Department attempted to locate Carter but failed to find him Monday.

On Tuesday, Carter turned himself in to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department around 3:41 p.m. and was transported to Chilton County, where he was booked into the Chilton County Jail.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Carter had been released from jail on a $5,000 bond.