By Wes Tomlinson
The Decatur Daily
PRICEVILLE, Ala. — Priceville Mayor Sam Heflin confirmed Wednesday that the police officer at the center of last month’s deadly downtown Hartselle pursuit is no longer with the department, and the officer’s attorney said he will challenge his termination at a City Council hearing later this month.
Garry Chapman was terminated from the Priceville Police Department on Sept. 19, his attorney Scott Morro of Gardendale said, after Mayor Sam Heflin upheld Police Chief Jerry Holmes’ recommendation to end his employment.
Morro said Chapman was fired for allegedly violating pursuit procedures. Heflin said he would not comment on the circumstances surrounding why Chapman is no longer employed with the Police Department because it is a pending personnel matter.
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On Sept. 6, Hartselle police reported Chapman initiated a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 65 in Priceville of a suspected impaired driver. The chase continued onto Alabama 36 and ended when the suspect, Hillsboro resident Archie Brandon Hale, struck the passenger side of an SUV carrying four juveniles at the intersection of Alabama 36 and U.S. 31 in Hartselle.
Seventeen-year-old Tristan Kain Hollis, a backseat passenger, died from his injuries at Hartselle Health Park ER. The three other juveniles were hospitalized, and one remains in critical condition at UAB Hospital.
Hale was charged with murder and remains in the Morgan County Jail without bond. At his Sept. 10 Aniah’s Law hearing, there was testimony that he had narcotics in his vehicle and fentanyl, amphetamines and marijuana in his system.
Amid hundreds of deaths caused by police chases in the U.S. each year, the Police Executive Research Forum, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, studied police pursuits and issued guidance in September 2023.
“This guide recommends adopting a standard that permits pursuits only for violent crimes and where failure to immediately apprehend the suspect presents an imminent threat to the public,” it reads.
The guide acknowledges that there may be rare, exceptional situations for reckless drivers, but that decision-making should consider whether a chase would make the situation better or worse: “For example, if a suspect begins driving more recklessly after police intervention, it is important to discontinue the pursuit.”
The Decatur Police Department, for example, has adopted the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Law Enforcement Agency Standards. The DPD directive provides that “The officer shall terminate the pursuit whenever the risk associated with continuing the pursuit is greater than the public safety benefit of making an immediate apprehension.” It also directs officers that “Pursuits shall not continue outside the Police Jurisdiction unless the driver or occupants are wanted for a felony or a supervisor has authorized it.”
State Sen. Arthur Orr, R- Decatur, recently said he is considering legislation that would set clear parameters on when officers can initiate a chase, noting that minor offenses shouldn’t put the public at risk.
Heflin on Sept. 10 said Chapman had been placed on administrative leave, and Holmes recommended termination the following day, according to Morro.
Morro argued Chapman is being “betrayed” by Heflin and Holmes who he said recently praised his drug arrests along Interstate 65.
“He needs to be vindicated because it was a good police chase,” Morro said. “He was within policy — blue lights and siren, assessing danger, distance — he did all that. It’s unfortunate that the fentanyl piece of crap ran a red light and struck a vehicle carrying those teenagers.”
Morro, a retired Birmingham police officer, called the wreck a tragedy and said Chapman is devastated by Hollis’ death and the injuries to his friends.
Morro said Chapman had been with Priceville police for just over a year. Holmes previously said he is one of the younger children of Duane Chapman, the reality TV personality known as Dog the Bounty Hunter.
“He’s been there long enough to make a huge difference in their drug interdiction,” Morro said. “He’s had at least 11 pursuits as the lead car and several others as the secondary car.”
He said Holmes claims Chapman failed to properly assess danger during the pursuit, but argued that the department’s own policy leaves such decisions to the “primary pursuing unit.”
“That’s a discretionary function of the officer actually involved in the chase,” Morro said. “So they put themselves in Chapman’s driver seat and said, ‘You didn’t do it right.’”
Chapman is also a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the mother of John Scott Jr., a 39-year-old Decatur man who died a week after a violent struggle with police during an apparent mental health crisis in April. The suit alleges excessive force, wrongful death and civil rights violations, claiming Chapman helped cause Scott’s injuries when assisting deputies at the Morgan County Jail.
Morro said the allegations are false and that Chapman had no contact with Scott while at the jail booking another suspect. He cited an email from Woody Sanderson, the attorney representing the city of Decatur in the suit, that says Chapman was not involved.
“It is the city’s position that Officer Chapman was not involved in any way in the arrest by Decatur city officers, which is the subject of that suit,” Morro read. “It is our understanding that, coincidentally, Officer Chapman was at the Morgan County Jail at the time of the arrest of (Scott).”
Morro accused Heflin and Holmes of bowing to Sanderson’s legal caution and failing to support their officer.
“I am calling for the resignation of Priceville Mayor Sam Heflin and Priceville Police Chief Jerry Holmes for failing to support law enforcement,” Morro said.
© 2025 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.). Visit www.decaturdaily.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
