Details emerge on man in standoff

Described as a loner, he is accused of holding a boy captive in a bunker

Jan Poland (center) walks with her son Aaron and daughter Lydia as they join friends and family to pay respects to Charles Albert Poland Jr. on Sunday at the Ozark Civic Center in Ozark, Ala.
Jan Poland (center) walks with her son Aaron and daughter Lydia as they join friends and family to pay respects to Charles Albert Poland Jr. on Sunday at the Ozark Civic Center in Ozark, Ala.

— As an Alabama standoff and hostage drama marked a sixth day Sunday, more details emerged about the suspect at the center, with neighbors and officials painting a picture of an isolated man estranged from his family.

Jim Lee Dykes, 65 - a decorated Vietnam War-era veteran known as Jimmy to neighbors - is accused of gunning down a school bus driver and abducting a 5-year-old boy from the bus, taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., was buried Sunday.

Dykes, described as a loner who railed against the government, lives up a dirt road in Midland City, about 80 miles away from the state capital of Montgomery.

The FBI said in a statement Sunday that authorities continued to have an open line of communication with Dykes and that they planned to deliver to the bunker additional comfort items such as food, toys and medicine. Officials also said Dykes was making the child as comfortable as possible.

Mel Adams, a Midland City Council member who owns the lot where reporters are gathered, said he has known Dykes since they were ages 3 and 4. He said Dykes has a sister and a brother, but that he is estranged from his family.

Adams said he didn’t know what caused the falling-out, but that he knew Dykes “had told part of his family to go to hell.”

Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper said Dykes’ sister is in a nursing home. Adams said law enforcement officers have talked to Dykes’ family members and advised them not to speak with reporters.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964-69. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

At some point after his time in the Navy, Dykes lived in Florida. He had some scrapes with the law there, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors, Michael Creel and his father, Greg.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm. Michael Creel said Dykes had an adult daughter, but the two lost touch years ago.

His property has a white trailer that, according to Creel, Dykes said he bought from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after it was used to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The property also has a steel shipping container - like those on container ships - in which Dykes stores tools and supplies.

Next to the container is the underground bunker where authorities say Dykes is holed up with the boy. Neighbors said the bunker has a pipe so Dykes can hear people coming near his driveway. Authorities have been using the ventilation pipe to communicate with him.

The younger Creel, who said he helped Dykes with supplies to build the bunker and has been in it twice, said Dykes wanted protection from hurricanes.

“He said he lived in Florida and had hurricanes hit. He wanted someplace he could go down in and be safe,” Creel said. Authorities said the bunker is about 6 feet by 8 feet, and the only entrance is a trap door at the top.

Such bunkers are not uncommon in rural Alabama because of the threat of tornadoes.

Michael Creel said Dykes kept to himself and listened to a lot of conservative talk radio.

“He was very into what’s going on with the nation and the politics and all the laws being made. The things he didn’t agree with, he would ventilate,” he said.

James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, put it differently.

“He’s against the government, starting with Obama on down,” he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Tamara Lush, Jay Reeves and Philip Rawls of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/04/2013

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