An Athens man accused in a jealousy-sparked two-state crime spree that resulted in charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, car jacking, cruelty to animals and others will be tried beginning the week of Feb. 4 in Limestone County Circuit Court, an official said.

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said Casey Cole White, 35, who lived on Pryor Street at the time, was arrested on the charges following a Dec. 2, 2015, crime spree and chase from Giles County, Tennessee, south to Limestone County, records show. Records show the DA’s office has already subpoenaed numerous law enforcement officers who were involved in the case to appear in court the week of Feb. 4. Circuit Judge Robert Baker will preside at the trial.

15 charges

According to Circuit Court records, White is charged with 13 felonies and two misdemeanors, including first-degree attempted murder, six counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, first-degree theft of property, third-degree burglary, cruelty to animals, breaking and entering a vehicle, attempting to elude and two counts of first-degree burglary. Although bail is set at $165,750, his release has not been set and he has remained jailed since the incident. He is represented by defense attorney Dan Totten of Athens.

While White is facing 15 charges in Limestone County in connection with the incidents that occurred Dec. 1 through early Dec. 3, 2015, he was also facing multiple charges in Tennessee after the incident, including first-degree attempted murder, car-jacking, two counts of attempted carjacking and theft of more than $10,000, Giles County Investigator Lt. Shane Hunter said at the time of White’s arrest.

The complaint

According to a complaint filed by Limestone County Sheriff’s Investigator Leslie Ramsey, on the night of Dec. 1, White allegedly went to a home at 22608 Smith Road where his former girlfriend, Kerry Tyler, had recently moved with her two children. Armed with a 40-caliber handgun and a .380-caliber handgun, he entered the home and held Tyler and two other residents at gunpoint. When Tyler ran, White chased her and fired at her multiple times before she escaped. The other two occupants escaped from a window. Tyler’s two children were in the basement at the time. Due to a previous visit to the home where White had been greeted by a man holding a shotgun who told him to leave, White fired his gun in front of him while running out the front door. During the process, he fatally shot the family dog.

Crime reports follow

Authorities in Limestone County and Tennessee responded to numerous crime reports after White left his ex-girlfriend’s home.

A man tried to rob, at gunpoint, a man in the 19000 block of Looney Road about 11:30 p.m. When the victim said he had no money, the assailant took the man’s car keys and stole his dark-colored 2007 Ford Explorer.

A man then attempted to hijack a trucker at the Tennessee Welcome Center near mile marker 3 on Interstate 65. Investigators there were told a man with two handguns jumped into the cab of an 18-wheeler and told the operator, “You’re going to drive me.” The driver refused and barricaded himself in his sleeper compartment and later told investigators the gunman was driving a dark-colored SUV.

The gunman ran across the parking lot at the welcome center to where a Kentucky woman was sitting in her car. He demanded she let him into the car. When she refused, the man began firing into the car, striking the woman “multiple times” in the left arm, Hunter said. The woman was later released from Vanderbilt Hospital.

While en route to the welcome center, Giles County investigators received another call about a car-jacking at a Pilot gas station at Exit 22 on Interstate 65. A man wielding a gun had approached the owner of a white 2012 Lincoln MKZ and had stolen the car.

Investigators found a dark Ford Explorer, which had been stolen on Looney Road, at the Tennessee Pilot station. They notified Limestone County sheriff’s deputies of the development.

Around midnight, a Limestone deputy spotted the Lincoln traveling south on I-65 at more than 100 mph. Deputies chased the driver, who then exited onto U.S. 31 southbound and proceeded through Athens and the Tanner Crossroads before driving into a ditch across the road from Swan Creek Mobile Home Park.

As officers surrounded the Lincoln from a distance, the driver — identified as White — stepped out of the car, held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot officers and himself unless he could speak with Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely. Deputy Casey Foxworthy can be heard on videotape offering White some chewing tobacco and a Sundrop soda and promising that the sheriff was on his way. The sheriff arrived and eventually talked White into peacefully surrendering.

When apprehended, White allegedly said his intent was to kill Tyler and have police kill him. He added his only regret was that neither took place and that if he was released he would kill Tyler.