Mobile police arrested a carjacking suspect after a brief chase and crash, capping a two-day search that also tied the man to several burglaries around the Mobile area. The arrest ended a run of violent and property crimes that had kept detectives from two units busy and left downtown business owners watching their doors.
Officers took Tony Lavell Witherspoon, 45, of Prichard, into custody after he refused to stop for police and crashed into another vehicle on Craft Highway near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to Mobile Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Rains. The driver of the other vehicle, who was not involved in the pursuit, was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. Witherspoon was evaluated, questioned by detectives and later transported to the Mobile County Metro Jail to await charges.
Investigators said Witherspoon was expected to face multiple charges, including at least one count of robbery, with additional counts possible as prosecutors review the string of cases connected to him. Police had identified him earlier the same day as the suspect in a carjacking that occurred two days earlier in downtown Mobile, and the break in the case came as officers intensified patrols in the areas where his alleged crimes had occurred.
The Downtown Carjacking
According to detectives, a woman was attacked on the 400 block of Conti Street around 7 p.m. that Sunday. The block sits in the heart of the LoDa entertainment district, steps from restaurants, bars and galleries that draw crowds on weekend evenings. She suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening, but the attack rattled residents and workers in a downtown corridor that has invested heavily in foot traffic and nightlife.
The suspect took the keys to her 2007 Ford Explorer by force and fled in the vehicle, police said. Detectives spent the next two days tracing the SUV and connecting it to other incidents, circulating descriptions to patrol officers and asking the public to report sightings. The victim, whose name has not been released, was treated and expected to recover.
Carjackings of this kind are among the most alarming crimes for a downtown business district because they strike in the middle of evening foot traffic. Mobile police have worked for years alongside downtown associations to keep the LoDa corridor safe, increasing presence during weekend hours and coordinating with private security camera networks that cover much of the district. Detectives said footage from those cameras, combined with witness statements from the busy Sunday evening street, helped identify a suspect far faster than would have been possible a generation ago, when such cases depended almost entirely on the victim’s recollection.
The stolen 2007 Ford Explorer itself became the focal point of the search. Older vehicles are frequently targeted in carjackings precisely because they lack GPS tracking and modern anti-theft systems, and detectives warned that the SUV could appear anywhere in the two-state area. Patrol officers across the city were given the tag information and vehicle description, and plainclothes officers joined the search as the cases multiplied.
From Burglaries to a Traffic Stop
In the days that followed, Witherspoon was linked to several commercial burglaries in and around Mobile, Rains said, prompting officers to patrol the areas where the break-ins had occurred. Commercial burglaries — break-ins at businesses rather than homes — often follow patterns that patrol officers learn to anticipate, with repeat offenders returning to the same corridors and types of establishments. The additional visibility in those areas is what investigators credit with putting eyes back on the stolen SUV.
Investigators said they were aware Witherspoon was traveling in the stolen Explorer before officers spotted the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. “He refused to pull over and a short, low-speed pursuit took place,” Rains said. The chase ended when the SUV collided with an unrelated motorist on Craft Highway near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, a corridor that runs through the heart of Prichard and carries steady traffic between that city and downtown Mobile.
The crash site lies just a few miles north of where the carjacking occurred, tracing a path through the neighborhoods that connect Mobile’s downtown to Prichard. Officers took Witherspoon into custody at the scene without further incident, and no officers were reported injured in the pursuit. The innocent motorist’s injuries were described as minor, and police said the vehicle damage added a civilian casualty to the list of costs stemming from the two-day crime spree.
A Record Behind the Charges
Witherspoon was questioned by police and later transported to Mobile County Metro Jail, the county’s main detention facility, where he was held while detectives prepared the paperwork for his charges. Investigators said he was also wanted on a separate robbery charge out of Baldwin County, meaning his legal troubles span both sides of Mobile Bay and will involve prosecutors in two judicial circuits.
Prichard, where Witherspoon lives, sits directly north of Mobile and shares a porous boundary with the city along corridors like Craft Highway. Crimes committed in one city routinely surface in the other, which is why the two departments maintain close working relationships and share intelligence through regional task forces. The pursuit that ended near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive illustrated the reality that criminals operating in downtown Mobile are often just minutes from the county line, and that coordinated patrol coverage between the cities is what closes that gap.
According to Mobile County court records, he had previously pleaded guilty to charges including theft, robbery and possession of a forged instrument. The record made him familiar to detectives working the case, several of whom recognized the pattern of the offenses as the burglaries and carjacking were pieced together. Career-criminal designations can affect how charges are filed and how bond is set, and prosecutors were expected to weigh his history as they prepared the case.
The Metro Jail booking process also connected the cases administratively. Inmates booked into the facility are screened against outstanding warrants from every jurisdiction in the region, which is how the Baldwin County robbery charge surfaced during his intake. That screening step routinely reveals cross-county cases that investigators on either side of the bay did not know were linked, and in Witherspoon’s situation it meant two separate prosecutors’ offices would now coordinate charges arising from a single defendant’s alleged crime spree.
Under Alabama law, robbery is a felony that becomes more serious when the perpetrator uses force against a victim, and prior felony convictions can extend any eventual sentence substantially. The burglaries add separate felony counts, each tied to a specific business and date. Legal observers note that defendants facing charges in multiple counties typically resolve the cases sequentially, with the most serious charges usually taking precedence in the courtroom schedule.
What the Case Means Downtown
Police said the arrest closed out an active public-safety concern for the downtown Mobile area, where the carjacking had prompted an active search for the suspect. Businesses along Dauphin Street and the surrounding blocks had been alerted to watch for the stolen Explorer, and residents in the LoDa district reported seeing increased patrols in the days between the carjacking and the arrest. Officers credited the quick identification of Witherspoon — within a day of the Sunday evening attack — with preventing any further violent incidents.
The case also highlighted the way property crimes and violent crimes interlock in police work. The commercial burglaries gave investigators additional charges and additional evidence, while the stolen SUV gave patrol officers a specific vehicle to look for. Detectives said the combination allowed them to move faster than they could have on any single case, and they encouraged business owners along the affected corridors to review security camera footage and report anything suspicious from the days in question.
Police also reminded drivers of the practical steps that reduce carjacking risk in urban areas: staying alert in parking areas, keeping keys in hand rather than searching pockets at the car door, and immediately reporting anyone loitering near vehicles. While such precautions cannot prevent every attack, investigators said the most valuable tip in this case came from the public’s awareness of the stolen SUV’s description, which put the vehicle in front of the right patrol officers at the right time.
For the woman attacked on Conti Street, the arrest brings the case one step closer to resolution, though the criminal process in Mobile County can take months between arrest and trial. Prosecutors will now review the evidence from the carjacking, the burglaries and the pursuit, and Witherspoon will face the charges in Mobile County District and Circuit Courts, with the Baldwin County robbery case proceeding separately.
Residents with information about additional incidents connected to Witherspoon were encouraged to contact Mobile Police Department investigators. Detectives said the investigation remains open, and additional charges or cases could still be added as victims come forward and evidence is reviewed. For now, police say the two-day search that began with a violent attack in the heart of downtown has ended where the suspect’s alleged crime spree ran out of road — on a crash scene along Craft Highway.