Rock the South offering $10K reward in weekend hit and run

By:
0
2741
Left to right are Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry, Senior Alabama State Trooper Chuck Daniel and Rock the South producer Nathan Baugh at a press conference Tuesday morning. (W.C. Mann for The Cullman Tribune)

CULLMAN, Ala. – In a joint press conference Tuesday morning with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), Rock the South, through producer Nathan Baugh, announced it is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver who hit a pedestrian early Saturday morning, June 1, near the Rock the South event site along County Road 469 and fled the scene.

The victim, who was flown to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, has been identified as Rob Clemmons. He is expected to recover.

In a release given to media by Holly Lollar of Birmingham-based public relations firm The Lollar Group, Clemmons’ mother, Anita Kilpatrick, said, “I am thankful to the Rock the South team as well as members of local law enforcement for their efforts to bring the individual to justice that injured my son.  I also appreciate the thoughts and prayers that have been shared with our family. Rob has a long recovery process but his condition is improving.”

“We are reaching out to the public on this case. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is the lead investigating agency; we are working with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Cullman City Police,” said Senior Alabama State Trooper Chuck Daniel. “We are reviewing surveillance video attempting to locate the driver of this vehicle and the vehicle description.”

Daniel urged the driver to make contact with either the Alabama State Trooper Decatur post at 256-353-0631 or the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office at 256-734-0342.

“We are asking you to contact us and tell us your side of the story. We understand there were a lot of people there and it was dark,” said Daniel. “That person possibly might not have been aware of the situation that happened. We’re asking the driver of the vehicle to contact us and let us know your side of the story.”

Daniel said ALEA has narrowed the description of the vehicle down to a 2003-2007 silver or gray Chevrolet Silverado.

“Obviously this incident does not reflect Rock the South as a whole, and we’re excited to announce today that we’re going to offer a $10,000 reward by Rock the South to try to come up with any  information leading to the arrest and conviction to the person that actually did this to Mr. Clemmons,” said Baugh. “We’ve talked multiple times with the family, and we stand with them as an event in solidarity to try to find this subject.”

Baugh said the award will be administered by Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock and the Cullman County District Attorney’s Office.

Sheriff Matt Gentry reminded the public that anyone can submit a tip anonymously through Nixle, Crime Stoppers (205-254-7777) or the CCSO’s secret witness number (256-734-0210).

Copyright 2019 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

avatar

Wendy Sack

wendy@cullmantribune.com