State prosecutors dropped a harassment charge against Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper after Cooper’s neighbor “no longer wishes to pursue this matter,” court records showed.
Gerald Carter, a Scottsboro businessman, claimed Cooper threatened to shoot him and “to whoop the victim’s ass” over a property dispute last year in Marshall County, according to court records.
The Marshall County District Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the case Tuesday because Carter “has informed the state he no longer wishes to pursue this matter.”
In response, Marshall County District Court Judge Mitchell S. Floyd dismissed the case “by agreement” between prosecutors and Carter.
In 2023, Carter told AL.com he bought 5.5 acres adjacent to Cooper’s property at South Sauty Creek Resort campground in Langston.
The property adjoins a garden owned by Cooper, he said, and a gravel road. There is another entry way onto the property, Carter said, but Cooper keeps a locked gate there off Chilcotin Road.
According to Carter, Cooper notified him by mail shortly after buying the land that he and his wife were trespassing by using Joe’s Parkway. Cooper initially told him he couldn’t access the gravel road.
In June 2023, Carter said he and some friends spent much of that day clearing about an acre of trees and underbrush. Later that afternoon, Carter returned to the property to retrieve a logging chain.
However, he said, Cooper’s utility vehicle was blocking the gravel road.
Carter said Cooper spoke to him, demanding to see the easement.
After Carter produced it, Cooper told him he had “bought bad land” and accused him of “sneaking” onto the property for six weeks.
Carter said he told Cooper that he wouldn’t use Joe’s Parkway as long as Cooper took down the gate to the property.
“I said, you’ve got until Friday to take the gate down, or I’m taking the gate down,” Carter said.
“He said, ‘You touch my gate and I’ll shoot you.’ I said, ‘What did you say?’ He said, ‘You know what? You ain’t even worth the price of a bullet. You touch my gate and I’ll whup your fat ass.’
“I said, ‘John Cooper!’ And he said, ‘You heard me. I’m old and I got Parkinson’s, but I’ll still whup your fat ass!’ And I said, ‘John, you take your best shot and you make sure it’s a good one.’”
After Carter said again he would take the gate down by Friday, he said Cooper told him, “You go ahead! You touch that gate and I’ll bury you so far under the jail you’ll have to fart to smell fresh air.’”
Last year, Cooper was held in the Marshall County jail for about 30 minutes before posting $500 bond.
