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Couple steals truck from former employer, then goes on run

By Elizabeth Gentle - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A man and woman from Madison County face several charges after a chase that started with a bizarre break-in Thursday morning led officers on a multiple county chase.

They were caught after they crashed in Scottsboro, ending a chase that started about 5 a.m. at a Huntsville business.

James Bennette Mayhall, 25, and his wife Fabienne Louise Mayhall, 18, admitted to police they went inside a Huntsville business to steal a truck out of revenge for a recent job termination.

Investigators found in their possession a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle.

An employee of H-T Hackney Company, a grocery wholesaler on Dug Hill Road in Huntsville, came to work and found a masked intruder inside the building armed with an assault rifle.

Investigators say the Mayhalls took off in a red Dodge, headed westbound over Chapman Mountain.

Madison County Sheriff's Investigator Chad Brooks said the high-speed pursuit went for several miles and involved a number of police agencies before the Mayhalls crashed into a bridge in Scottsboro.

They were questioned about the armed burglary shortly after their arrest.

"They admitted the offender Mr. Mayhall had been employed at that company and had recently been terminated for actions and they made the decision last night to take their revenge by breaking into the business to do vandalism. Specifically, they broke in to steal a truck," said Madison County Sheriff's Inv. Chad Brooks.

The Mayhalls remain in jail on charges ranging from burglary to menacing.

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