(Update) Bond denied in fatal wreck
A man charged with DUI in connection with the hit-and-run death of a Holly Pond man Tuesday evening will remain in jail after a Cullman County judge reviewed the case in a mandatory bond hearing Thursday.
Brett Steven Amerson, 54, of Morris, was caught by a Cullman County deputy 21 miles from the scene of a wreck in which he is accused of running over motorcyclist Bradley Ray Patterson, 39, of Holly Pond on Alabama 157. Court documents show charges against Amerson dating back to 1988, mostly in Jefferson County, when his license was revoked the first time. The documents show 13 DUI charges, several of them felony DUIs.
Felony DUI can be charged for various reasons, ranging from a high blood-alcohol level to repeated offenses to having children in the car or causing harm to others. Police reported Amerson measured .26 in a portable test Tuesday night. The level at which DUI can be charged is .08, meaning the preliminary measurement on Amerson was more than three times the minimum.
His last recorded DUI before Tuesday’s fatal wreck was in 2016.
Other charges through the years include driving on the wrong side of the road, open containers of alcohol in the vehicle, and illegal hunting offenses.
Cullman police reported that Amerson did not stop upon striking the motorcycle and fled south on Interstate 65 where he was later captured.
Cullman County District Judge Rusty Turner conducted the bond hearing Thursday afternoon and denied Amerson’s release based on the long list of prior offenses.
Amerson was charged with felony DUI and driving while license revoked. Cullman Police Lt. Jeff Warnke said additional charges are expected and that the case is being reviewed by the Cullman County District Attorney’s Office.
Patterson’s funeral was Thursday night at Cullman Heritage Funeral Home. He is survived by two children and other family members.
On a memorial page, one of his children wrote:
“My dad.. I love you so much. I’m so sorry for everyone who is sad right now. I am too but my dad wouldn’t want us to keep crying forever.. dad died doing something he loved and I will never forget that. He’s taught me so much and that was his last lesson. I love him.. not in past tense because I am still alive.. I will love him forever until I pass.. we all have to remember he was a great man that did not deserve this …”
Warnke said Amerson was driving a white box truck that belonged to his mother and that he apparently was in the area to help a friend move.