Shortly before 2:30 Thursday afternoon, Centre Police received a 9-1-1 call stating that someone coming out of a store in the Cherokee Plaza had seen someone in their vehicle in the parking lot.

When the owner of the truck yelled at the man inside the vehicle, the subject ran to a gray Honda Civic and fled the scene; the victim chased the vehicle giving directions to central dispatch along the way.

Centre Police Chief Kirk Blankenship spotted the Honda on Highway 9 South, at the intersection with East Main; as Blankenship began pursuit of the vehicle the driver – later identified as James Joshua Fair – stuck a pistol out the window and fired one shot.

The Honda was brought to a stop at the intersection of Highway 9 and County Road 71, at which time both Fair and a passenger in the vehicle, Leslie Irene Tate, were taken into custody.

The firearm, a.38 caliber revolver – had been tossed out during the chase but was soon recovered in a residents’ yard.

During questioning – Detective Jeff Bryant thought he recognized Fair as the individual who had burglarized several vehicles on July 25th at the Centre locations of Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Jack’s

Both Fair and Tate then admitted to being involved in those thefts. Additionally a confession was obtained for a number of other car break-in’s in Oxford, Anniston, Gadsden and Alexandria. The recovered firearm had been stolen from Oxford on Wednesday (August 21st) of this week from a vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.

Chief Blankenship and Detective Bryant would like to thank the deputies and investigators of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama State Fire Marshal for their assistance in this case.

Both Fair & Tate are being held in the Cherokee County Detention Center and additional charges could be forthcoming.

At approximately the same time Thursday afternoon Leesburg Police responded to a call of a self –inflicted gunshot wound; the male subject was air-lifted to an area trauma center from Leesburg and that case remains under investigation.