Police: Man Accused of Firing Shots at Public Bus Over Food Stamp Dispute

james-feola Baldwin County Sheriff's Office)
Baldwin County Sheriff's Office

A man was arrested after he fired shots at a public bus over a food stamp dispute with Alabama’s Department of Human Resources, police say.

AL.com reports that the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office took James Feola, 74, of Bay Minette, into custody Tuesday evening at around 6:30 p.m.

The sheriff’s office said that deputies responded to a call Tuesday afternoon in the Perdido area of Baldwin County regarding a male suspect who fired two shots at a public bus full of passengers while one of the passengers tried to get off the bus.

Deputies say nobody was injured or struck by the bullets.

Feola allegedly retreated to his home and avoided phone calls from deputies responding to the incident.

Authorities identified Feola because they traced a phone call he made to the Department of Human Resources allegedly threatening to shoot the place if he did not receive his food stamp benefits.

The sheriff’s office dispatched a SWAT team and Sheriff’s Department Negotiators to Feola’s house to get him to surrender to the authorities. They called for Feola to give himself up via a loudspeaker.

Deputies took him into custody after catching him trying to escape through the back of his home.

Officers arrested Feola and charged him with two counts of reckless endangerment. He is being held without bond at the Baldwin County Corrections Center and awaiting a probate hearing.

Disagreements over food stamps have caused many people to commit acts of violence.

In 2013, a dispute over a place in line escalated into a brawl between four women at a food stamp office in Illinois.

That same year, a Texas man was arrested for allegedly shooting his neighbor after an argument over food stamps.

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