Man accused of attempted murder

By Staff
Jason Houston Acting Publisher
A Russellville man faces a variety of criminal charges after a Thursday incident where he allegedly kidnapped his estranged wife and injured another man by hitting the man with his car.
Police Chief Chris Hargett said Billy Joe McGaughy, 24, of 403 Waterloo Road in Russellville, was arrested late Thursday afternoon and charged with attempted murder, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, and 13 counts of reckless endangerment.
Attempted murder, the most serious of the charges, is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction. The other charges are misdemeanors, each carrying a possible one-year sentence.
Hargett said around 3 p.m. yesterday, McGaughy was in Colbert County talking to his wife, from whom he is currently separated.
Hargett said the victim's mother then called 911 and attempted to block McGaughy's car with her own. McGaughy then allegedly turned around, kept going, but had to stop behind a school bus.
At that point, Hargett said the mother and her friend jumped out of their car and succeeded in getting the victim out of the car, unharmed.
McGaughy then allegedly sped around the school bus on the right side as children were unloading, turned around and later hit the victim's mother's friend with his car. The man injured suffered a fractured leg and was treated and released from Russellville Hospital.
At that point, officers arrived at the scene and apprehended McGaughy.
The endangerment charges resulted from the potential harm to the children on the bus as well as others at the scene, Hargett said.
McGaughy was being held at press time in the Franklin County Jail on bond totaling $17,500.