Millbrook Teen Charged with Attempted Murder of Police Officer

On Sunday, September 10, at approximately 1:34 PM, Millbrook police officers responded to a report of a suspicious person attempting to enter several vehicles in the 500 block of Hickory Grove Road. Officers were able to make contact with an individual matching the description given by complainants.

The subject was found to be in possession of a small caliber pistol that was taken during the theft of a vehicle that occurred in Millbrook on Friday, September 8. That same vehicle, a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, fled from officers that attempted to conduct a traffic stop early Saturday morning. The pursuit terminated in the 200 block of Pine Meadow Circle, at which time the offender intentionally rammed into the patrol vehicle and discharged a firearm at the two police officers that occupied the patrol vehicle. The vehicle then ran through fences and yards east of that location and was later located abandoned at the dead end of Silver Crest Drive.

Millbrook police officers, assisted by the Alabama Department of Corrections K-9 team, and the Elmore County Sheriff’s Department conducted a lengthy search for the suspect but had to suspend the search when the K-9 team lost the offenders track.

The suspect, later identified as Ja ‘Queon Latrell Reason, an 18-year old Millbrook resident, was taken into custody and transported to the Millbrook Police Department, where he was interviewed by a detective from the department’s Criminal Investigative Unit.

After the interview was completed Reason was placed under arrest, being charged with two counts of Attempted Murder, two counts of Criminal Mischief 1st Degree, and Receiving Stolen Property 1st Degree. Reason was processed and transported to the Elmore County Jail, where he will remain without bond until detectives obtain arrest warrants and serve the offender.

Chief P.K. Johnson released a statement regarding the arrest: 

I am both proud and relieved to announce this arrest. I am even more proud of our officers, who have been working diligently to identify and apprehended this offender. There were a lot of officers that went 24 hours without sleep between Friday and Saturday, to include myself, after our officers were shot at. My heart sank early Saturday morning as I was monitoring the pursuit and heard my officer advise that shots had been fired. It’s one thing to attempt to elude law enforcement. It’s entirely another to intentionally ram into a police vehicle and discharge a firearm at law enforcement officers. This was something you would expect to see in a video game, like Grand Theft Auto. We are extremely thankful that our officers are unharmed and were able to go home safely to their families. The Lord was just looking out for all parties involved. I don’t believe this young man realizes that his life very well could have ended Saturday morning, nor does he understand the severity of the consequences of his actions should he be found guilty of the offenses he is charged with.

We have reason to believe that there is a strong possibility that these recent vehicle and property thefts are related. Our detectives will certainly be networking with investigators throughout the River Region in an attempt to share information and develop intelligence that will hopefully allow us to make additional arrest and close outstanding cases. This has got to stop. People work hard to earn a living and provide for their families to have these people just arbitrarily steal their property and destroy it with no regard when law enforcement attempts to apprehend them. I can assure you that we are going to be aggressively patrolling our neighborhoods and addressing all violations observed, checking on suspicious persons, and if you are easily offended by a heightened police presence………… Millbrook may not be the place for you right now. Our citizens are fed up and so are our police officers!

I want to thank the Alabama Department of Corrections K-9 team and the Elmore County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance during the search for this offender, as well as the citizens that alerted us that the offender was attempting to unlawfully enter vehicles earlier this afternoon. Without that phone call we’d still be looking for this offender, who was clearly armed and dangerous. In closing I want to commend our police officers and staff for their bravery, diligence, and professionalism that they displayed from the moment the pursuit terminated with our officers being fired upon Saturday morning, until the offender was apprehended and charged. Officers that were off duty came in without being called upon to do so after this occurred. Not a single officer or detective wanted to go home until the offender had been identified and apprehended. Law enforcement is a tight knit fraternity and when something like this happens we come together even closer. I’m very proud to be associated with our officers and staff. Our City is in good hands.