A preliminary hearing was postponed Tuesday for an Athens man charged with crimes in two states who told investigators he thought his former girlfriend was involved with another man and planned to kill her.

Casey Cole White, 32, of 808 Pryor St., was scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. in Limestone County District Court so Judge Jerry Batts could determine whether there was adequate evidence to require a trial. The hearing had to be rescheduled because White had not yet filled out paperwork the court needed to appoint an attorney for him, Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said.

The preliminary hearing for White will not be handled in open court but, rather, through a video conference. Jones said the video conference will be used for security reasons as White has exhibited violent behavior.

White is facing 13 charges in Limestone County in connection with alleged crimes that occurred late Dec. 2 and early Dec. 3. The charges include one count each of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery, cruelty to animals, third-degree burglary, first-degree theft, attempting to elude law enforcement, breaking and entering a vehicle and third-degree criminal mischief. He is also charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and three counts of kidnapping.

In Tennessee, White is charged with first-degree attempted murder, car-jacking, two counts of attempted carjacking and theft of more than $10,000, said Giles County Investigator Lt. Shane Hunter. More charges are pending, Hunter said.

According to a complaint filed by Limestone County Sheriff’s Investigator Leslie Ramsey, on the night of Dec. 2 White 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.

The crime trail

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 has since been released from Vanderbilt Hospital, Hunter said Tuesday.)

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 I-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, 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. The sheriff arrived and eventually talked White into surrendering.