Road rage suspect gets $500K bond

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - Steven Emory Pinson, 54, stood with his attorney during his bond hearing from the Baldwin County Jail Friday afternoon.  Pinson faces an attempted murder charge after police said he shot another man, a tourist, on Perdido Beach Boulevard Thursday morning.

“According to witnesses we have talked to so far, the interaction between the cars started on the bridge at the pass,” said Orange Beach Police Chief Billy Wilkins at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Investigators questioned witnesses who said they saw the two men arguing back and forth as they drove down the road.  When the vehicles reached the stoplight at Perdido Beach Boulevard and Highway 161, Damon Hembree of McCalla, Alabama got out of his car and approached Pinson’s pickup truck. 

Orange Beach police said another argument occurred, and Pinson shot the 44-year-old vacationer once in the chest with a handgun. 

Hembree was Life-Flighted to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola and Pinson was arrested at the scene. 

At Pinson’s bond hearing, the district attorney’s office requested a $500,000 bond. 

Pinson’s attorney argued that Pinson was a retired state law enforcement officer who’s lived the last 22 years in the state and was not a risk.

“We think that $500,000 is potentially a no bond. But in any event, we think that a reasonable bond, a $100,000 would be a very, very substantial bond your honor,” said Pinson’s defense attorney Steve Salter.

District Judge Michelle Thomason responded, “Mr. Pinson, based on the circumstances of the case, I believe that there is a risk in you having a lower bond.  I believe that you are a danger to this community.”

Judge Thomason denied the request for bond reduction, but Salter said he still plans on filing another motion for bond reduction that will be heard at a status hearing later this month.

If Pinson makes bond, he will be on GPS electronic monitoring, he cannot possess any firearm and he may have no contact with the victim or his family. 

Damon Hembree is still listed in serious condition at Baptist Hospital.