By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man was arrested last week after he violated for the second and third times in a week a protective order granted to his wife, to whom he had reportedly been abusive in the past.
The latest incident took place around 10:30 p.m., December 2, when Atmore police were sent to an Estates Lane residence, where a caller reported that a neighbor’s estranged spouse — Ethan Linam, 29 — was on the neighbor’s property despite a “protection order of abuse” that prohibited him from being there.
Neighbors, aware of the order, called police when they saw the local man on the woman’s property.
Linam, who had been arrested November 25 for violating the order, ran away when he heard the neighbors on the phone with an APD dispatcher.
According to reports, police searched the area for approximately 15 minutes but were unable to locate Linam, who returned a few minutes after the officers left and attempted to confront his estranged wife.
Police were recalled to the scene and immediately found Linam hiding beneath a vehicle in a neighbor’s yard.
He was taken into custody and booked into the Escambia County Detention Center, where he remained Monday afternoon, December 5. He is charged with two counts of violating a domestic violence protection order and one count of first-degree criminal trespass.
The criminal trespass charge is a Class A misdemeanor, and under normal circumstances, the protective order violation is, too. However, Alabama Criminal Code Section 13A-6-142 provides that a first or second conviction for violation of a domestic violence protection order is a Class A misdemeanor.
A third or subsequent violation is a Class C felony and is punishable upon conviction by a prison sentence that ranges from “at least one year and one day, up to 10 years.” A fine of up to $15,000 may also be levied.
APD Sgt. Darrell McMann said the charges against Linam are currently both misdemeanors, that the December 2 incident represented the man’s second and third arrests, not convictions.
McMann reported early Tuesday morning that Linam has also been charged with domestic violence, first-degree aggravated stalking, a felony.