Police: Man intentionally drove Jeep into off-duty officer

Aug. 18—An off-duty Decatur police officer at home with his family was deliberately struck by a vehicle Tuesday evening as the officer fired shots toward the driver, according to Decatur police.

A neighbor who witnessed the event and whose husband helped subdue the driver said she was astonished that the officer was not seriously injured, and that the driver was not killed as bullets went through his Jeep's windshield.

At about 5:15 p.m. the officer was off duty and at his home on the 2200 block of 11th Street Southeast with his children, according to an affidavit filed in Morgan County District Court by Sgt. Michael Burleson.

The officer went outside to see why a black Jeep was stationary in front of his house. It was later determined the driver was Gregory Martin Hill, 54, of Decatur, Burleson said.

"When (the officer) made contact with Hill, Hill backed over (the officer's) mailbox and struck a vehicle traveling west on 11th Street. (The officer) ran into his home to retrieve his weapon, with Hill chasing him (on foot)," Burleson said.

The off-duty officer then came outside with his gun and ordered Hill to get on the ground, according to the affidavit.

"Hill got back into his vehicle and (the officer) attempted to get Hill to get out of the driver's seat," Burleson said. "Instead, Hill drove directly into (the officer), who discharged his weapon into the Jeep numerous times."

Burleson said the officer was pushed by the vehicle across the length of the yard and into a bush.

Police said Hill was not struck by the gunfire, and he was placed under arrest when other police responded to the incident.

The officer was transported to Huntsville Hospital for treatment and police spokeswoman Irene Cardenas-Martinez said he was released Tuesday night and that the injuries were not serious.

In a social media post, the injured officer's wife said her husband did not recognize Hill.

"He is doing well," she said of her husband. "Very sore and scraped up but otherwise okay, thank God. By all accounts my husband should be injured much worse but God was definitely on his side and on the side of the offender in that he did not get hit by one of the rounds, which were all placed in close grouping at the dash.

"I pray that this individual gets the help he needs, as he is definitely (an emotionally disturbed person) and was just looking for an officer to target, and while right now I can't forgive him I hope that in the future I will be able to."

Hill was charged with second-degree assault and booked into the Morgan County Jail, where he remained Wednesday. Sheriff's spokesman Mike Swafford said Hill was so combative and uncooperative there was a delay in taking his booking photo. A $50,000 cash bond was set by Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott.

Cardenas-Martinez said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.

One of the officer's neighbors, Vickie Casteel, said she and her husband witnessed the incident.

"We were in the backyard and we heard a crash, and we ran to the front yard and saw that a vehicle had hit another one," she said.

Her understanding is that Hill tired of waiting for a vehicle pulling into a driveway and went around it, striking a vehicle going the opposite direction on 11th Street.

"That's what caused it all. He hit that car in the side. Then he tried to get away and he went into the police officer's yard and ran completely over the mailbox. He kept trying to back over it and get away from it. It was up underneath his Jeep. He kept going forward and backward. He was in the policeman's yard and the policeman kept telling him to stop," Casteel said.

She said Hill kept operating his vehicle as if he were trying to hit the officer, so the officer went inside for his gun.

"Finally the Jeep got free and the policeman was telling him to 'stand down, stand down.' (Hill) kept hitting the trees in the yard, going backward and forward nonstop. Then he kept going toward (the officer) and hit the policeman while he was shooting. He was shooting the whole time at him," Casteel said. "I don't know how the guy didn't get a bullet in him. The bullets were hitting the windshield of the Jeep, going into the Jeep."

Casteel said she was watching and screaming, and it scares her now that she and her husband were so close.

"When he hit him with the Jeep really hard after (the officer) was still shooting at him, he got out of the Jeep and started attacking the policeman on the ground. The policeman started hollering for help. One of the neighbors and my husband tackled him and wrestled him to the ground and put his hands behind his back," she said.

Vickie Casteel said Hill was so strong that the men struggled to hold him down.

Her husband, Milton Casteel, said police arrived soon after he and the neighbor got Hill on the ground.

"I grabbed his right arm and twisted it behind his back, and after me and my neighbor had him, (the police) kind of pushed me off of him and jumped in there and got him," he said.

Vickie Casteel said the officer, who joined Decatur police in 2018, was struck so hard by the vehicle that she expected him to be seriously injured.

"I don't know how the officer's doing OK. The guy in the Jeep was trying to kill him," she said.

She said at least 15 patrol cars responded to the incident and blocked off the street.

— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.