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• Escambia School Board Buys 36 Acres For $3.9 Million For New Beulah School
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Century Man, Escambia’s Most Wanted, Busted After Pensacola Manhunt

Early this morning, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Pensacola Police Department busted a Century man that had been named one of Escambia County’s most wanted.

Shawn Demarcus Simmons, 30, was booked into the Escambia County Jail at 4:30 a.m. following a manhunt involving officers from both departments and a K-9 unit. Officers began their search for Simmons after he reportedly attacked a female on Lee Street in Pensacola.

At 10:34 Tuesday night, deputies were dispatched to 1200 West Lee Street in Pensacola for a disturbance. When deputies arrived, two victims advised that Simmons had ran from the residence toward Baptist Hospital.

While deputies were searching for him, Simmons reportedly called the victim from Baptist Hospital and “told her that he knows what’s going down and he’s not going back to jail,” according to the arrest report.  Again, deputies were unable to located Simmons.

Early Wednesday morning, Sheriff’s Office dispatchers were advised that Simmons was at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola trying to get a ride back to Century and had been observed by hospital security personnel.

Deputies were unable to locate Simmons when they arrived at Sacred Heart Hospital. A Pensacola Police Department K-9 was called to the hospital, and they were able to locate and arrested him.

Once arrested, “Simmons was bragging about how he eluded police when he fled from the residence,” according to the arrest report.

During the Lee Street incident Tuesday night, Simmons had reportedly told the female victim that he was going to kill her, her child and then kill himself. The victim, a Century resident, was staying with her aunt in Pensacola to avoid Simmons, according to deputies. When Simmons managed to find her at the Lee Street address in Pensacola, he violently attacked her, kicking her in the face and stomping on her stomach and chest. She was transported by ambulance to Baptist Hospital for treatment.

A friend of the victim had tried to set her up on a date with Simmons, but she declined because she already had a boyfriend, the sheriff’s report says. Since that time, Simmons had stalked the victim, the report states, even trying to kick in the door of her apartment in Century. She had fled Century and had been with her aunt in Pensacola for two days.

Simmons is being held on $126,000 bond on charges of burglary, robbery, two counts of aggravated battery, stalking, possession of weapon by a convicted felon, criminal mischief and stalking. He is due to make his first court appearance on April 15.

Simmons was wanted for the  February 25 robbery of Devante Aaaron Knight, 18, of Hecker Road, Century. Simmons is wanted for aggravated battery, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and robbery with a firearm. He is also the prime suspect in the March 4 armed robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart.

Simmons had been the subject of numerous searches and manhunts in Century and Brewton, Alabama. Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers recently named Simmons as one of Escambia County’s most wanted fugitives.

More details on this morning’s arrest will be posted as information becomes available.

February 25 Robbery

About midnight on February 25, a black male later identified as  Devante Aaaron Knight (pictured) snatched a pocketbook from the purse of a 79-year old female in the parking lot of the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel. The pocketbook contained over $1,400 in cash, according to Doyle Lee, head investigator for the Poarch Creek Police Department.

Later that day, Knight told Escambia County  Sheriff’s Office deputies that he was in the yard of a home in the 100 block of Zion Street on February 25 talking to Simmons. That’s when Simmons asked to borrow a dollar from Knight, and Knight agreed. Simmons then reportedly walked into a trailer, returned outside and told Knight “give it up”. Simmons escaped the scene with the cash.

Knight said that he remembered being hit in the head with the gun and hearing gunfire, but he did not think he had been shot. The victim then walked to the nearby Dollar General store on nearby North Century Boulevard. That’s where Knight located his aunt. The aunt transported Knight to his home in the 200 block of East Hecker Road and called 911. Knight was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital for treatment of a head injury. He was not shot, according to deputies.

Knight was arrested in Escambia County, Florida, and subsequently extradited back to Alabama to face charges of first degree theft of property.

Simmons was charged with aggravated battery, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and robbery with a firearm in connection the incident.

March 4 Century Armed Robbery

Simmons has been named as the suspect in the March 4 armed robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart in Century.

The store clerk told deputies that a black male entered the front door of the store, came up to the side of the counter, pointed a handgun at her and a customer, and demanded that she empty the register. The suspect also took money and lottery tickets from the customer, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.

K-9 units from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Century Correctional Institution joined Escambia County deputies and Flomaton Police Department officers in a lengthy manhunt for Simmons. The manhunt was centered in an area bounded by Highway 29, Old Flomaton Road, Highway 4 and the Alabama state line.

A short time later, a resident just south of the convenience store called 911 to report that a black male wearing a dark colored hoodie jacket was standing at her door, covered in mud. The resident also described the man as having lips that were light in color and appeared to be burned.

“‘Don’t you know me? Don’t you remember me? The police are after me’,” the suspect, believed to be Simmons, told the woman, according to the sheriff’s office report.

Simmons reportedly asked the female if he could enter the house, but she refused and called for help. A black jacket was recovered by an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technician from behind the woman’s residence.

The manhunt was called off with no arrest.

March 11 Brewton Manhunt

A search for Simmons led to a March 11 manhunt in Brewton, Alabama.

A tip led the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office and the Brewton Police Department to look for Simmons in the Martin Luther King Avenue area of Brewton around midday.

Tracking dogs from the Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore were used in the search for Simmons, but he was not apprehended.

Pictured top inset: Tracking dogs are used to search for Simmons following a Century armed robbery. Pictured middle inset: A crime scene technician dusts the door of Moyes State Line Food Mart in Century after a March 4 armed robbery. Pictured below: Shawn Demarcus Simmons is a suspect in the March 4 robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart in Century. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.