By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man was arrested February 13 after city police responded around 2:20 a.m. to a report of a wreck near the junction of U.S. 31 and Florida Highway.
Officers discovered shortly after arrival that there was no traffic accident. Instead, they found 50-year-old Richard Wooten, who officers suspected of being under the influence of narcotics since he was “extremely paranoid.”
Wooten had commandeered his former employer’s tractor and caused damage of “several thousand dollars” to the farm machine.
He was taken to Atmore Municipal Jail, where an investigator spoke with the tractor’s owner before charging Wooten with one count of first-degree criminal mischief. Other charges may be added later, police said.
Wooten remained in the Escambia County Detention Center Friday, February 17, under bond of $15,000.