Utility vehicle involved in fatal crash during Mobile chase was stolen, sheriff says

Utility vehicle involved in fatal crash during Mobile chase was stolen, sheriff says

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office has released additional details from an incident Friday in which two men fleeing deputies in a utility vehicle crashed, killing one of the men who they now say was also a wanted suspect.

Last Friday afternoon, deputies went to an address on Mason Ferry Road to speak with the grandparents of 21-year-old James Leon Baker, who had active warrants on multiple charges.

While there, deputies spotted Baker leaving from the back of the residence, heading for a wooded area. Baker and another man jumped into a Polaris utility vehicle and fled the scene down Mason Ferry Road.

Deputies gave chase, with the utility vehicle wrecking prior to the deputies’ arrival at another location along Mason Ferry Road. Baker fled into the woods, but the man riding with him was found laying unresponsive next to the wrecked vehicle.

Originally, the sheriff’s office said the man — identified as 25-year-old Allen Wesley Sprinkle of Eight Mile, Ala. — was pronounced dead at the scene. Monday, however, the MCSO said Sprinkle was taken to a local hospital before being pronounced dead.

Baker was later taken into custody with the assistance of a Mobile County K9 unit.

While originally reporting that Baker was the suspect deputies were seeking last Friday, the sheriff’s office said Monday Sprinkle was also wanted for questioning, along with Baker, in the theft of the utility vehicle involved in the crash.

Baker remained held without bond in the Mobile Metro Jail as of Monday morning, charged with receiving stolen property, attempting to elude law enforcement, and parole violation.