A Waverly man will spend the next 15 years in prison and the rest of his life on probation for stealing a car from a convenience store that had a toddler as its passenger and leading law enforcement on a chase that ended with a crash.
John Michael Alba, 29, pled guilty in late 2022 in Glynn County Superior Court to charges of kidnapping, automobile theft and obstruction of an officer. He was sentenced Monday by Judge Stephen Scarlett to 15 years confinement and a lifetime of probation, a release from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office said.
“Under Georgia law, Alba will have to serve every day of the 15 year prison sentence,” the release said.
Alba attempted to take advantage of a crime of opportunity on June 16, 2021, when he rode his bicycle into the parking lot of the Friendly Express at U.S. Highway 82 and Blythe Island Highway and jumped behind the wheel of a running car.
The owner of the car had run inside for a quick purchase, leaving her two-year-old child in a car seat when Alba attempted to steal her vehicle. A police search quickly began and Camden County deputies spotted the vehicle on U.S. Highway 17, the release said.
Alba attempted to evade deputies. A short chase ended with Alba crashing the vehicle in a ditch on Buck Swamp Road. The child was uninjured.
Alba tried to get away from deputies on foot, struggled with police and bit one officer before being zapped with a Taser and taken into custody around 8 p.m. that night.
”When questioned by police, Alba admitted taking the vehicle but denied knowing the child was inside,” the release said. “It was 43 minutes between the time the defendant took the vehicle and child, and the time they were recovered.”
The guilty plea came as a result of a non-negotiated plea deal.
