Aliceville Man Found Guilty of Attempted Murder of Police Officer

A Pickens County jury has found an Aliceville man guilty of the attempted murder of a police officer, District Attorney Andy Hamlin announced Thursday morning.

In a press release celebrating the conviction, Hamlin said the charges stemmed from an altercation at the B-Mart Convenience Store on Mobile Road in Aliceville in April 2015.

The convicted man, John Robert Taylor, was reportedly drunk and arguing with a store manager when assistant police chief Tony Thrasher stopped by the store and tried to arrest Taylor for public intoxication.

Taylor reportedly resisted arrest and pulled a handgun, pointed it at the officer and tried to pull its trigger several times before he was hit with a Taser and safely arrested.

He was charged with attempted murder, public intoxication and resisting arrest, as well as illegally possessing a firearm as a felon, but the ATF prosecuted that charge independently and convicted Taylor for it in 2017.

This week, a Pickens County jury found Taylor guilty on all three of the other charges.

“I would like to thank everyone that worked so hard on this case. From my staff, Assistant District Attorney Jack Nolen who helped me try the case, to Chief Tonnie Jones and Assistant Chief Thrasher of the Aliceville Police Department who really went above and beyond in prepping the case and at trial,” said 24th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Andy Hamlin. “I would especially like to thank the jurors for listening to the fact of this case and bringing this violent offender to justice.”

Hamlin said Taylor is set to be sentenced at a hearing on January 6th.