Mixon charged with mischief, grand theft

Joseph Lee Mixon was arrested Thursday and charged with three felonies in connection with slamming a seafood truck into the Apalachicola State Bank branch in downtown Apalachicola in the early morning hours of Nov. 15.

At a first appearance Nov. 21, County Judge Van Russell set a $250,000 bond for Mixon, 43, who is being held at the Franklin County Jail. Public defender Kevin Steiger was assigned to handle his case.

Mixon was charged with three third-degree felonies, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and two counts of criminal mischief. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

The grand theft charge stems from Mixon having driven, without permission or authorization and for personal use, a 1997 Peterbilt truck valued at $95,000.

Tommy Ward, owner of 13 Mile Seafood, told Ronnie Segree, investigator with the sheriff's office, that Mixon had been riding the route for a couple weeks with driver Johnny Pace and that he was scheduled to take over once he learned it.

On the Friday before the incident. Ward said he allowed Mixon to drive the truck and make deliveries in Bay County, but that he was to return immediately afterwards to 13 Mile, park the truck and place the keys and money in their proper places. Mixon was told he was not allowed to use the truck for personal use.

"Mr. Ward had no deliveries east of 13 Mile Seafood and there was no reason for his seafood truck to be in Apalachicola other than Mr. Mixon had taken upon himself to take the truck without Mr. Ward's permission or authorization and use it for his personal use," wrote Segree in the probable cause narrative.

The two criminal mischief charges stem from Mixon having allegedly committed an offense for having "willfully and maliciously injuring or damaging by any means any real or personal property belonging to another." The charge is a felony because the damage exceeds $1,000, which can include "interruption or impairment of a business operation or public communication, transportation, supply of water, gas or power, or other public service."

One charge is associated with having totaled Ward's truck and the other is for the massive damage sustained by the bank, estimated by bank officials to be in the neighborhood of $1.5 million to $2 million.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Apalachicola Police Chief Bobby Varnes and State's Attorney Investigator Johnny Turner interviewed Mixon at his home on Nov. 17, a day after he was released from Bay Medical Center with the fracture of two vertebrae, scalp lacerations and a knee injury sustained in the 5 a.m. crash.

"I'm done, I'm a dead man"

In a recorded statement after he was read his Miranda rights, Mixon told lawmen he had moved out of his girlfriend's residence at the end of October and had been dating her for about four months. The girlfriend's sister told investigators the relationship lasted for only one month.

"He said he learned that (she) was with someone else on this night and she told him they were moving way too fast in their relationship," read the affidavit.

Mixon said he tried to call her repeatedly that night to talk about their relationship but she had turned her cell phone off. He said he also called his ex mother-in-law "and told her to tell his children that he loved them."

Mixon's mother-in-law told investigators she got the call about 3:30 a.m. and was told "he's done, tell my children I love them. I'm done, I'm a dead man. I'll be in the paper in the morning." She said Mixon told her to tell his ex-wife that if she didn't believe him to "call his cell phone and whoever answered it would tell her he was dead."

The mother-in-law told officers that Mixon had attempted suicide three years ago, possibly from a drug overdose.

Mixon also reported that he left messages on his girlfriend's cell phone "to the effect that what he was about to do was her fault for playing him for a fool and messing with his feelings." He said he left similar messages on her sister's telephone as well as another friend's, with the latter message indicating he intended to drive off the pier.

"Mixon said he made up his mind up at the West side/Bayfront station to attempt to kill himself," wrote the investigators. "He said his dad, Buddy Mixon, died in a seafood truck and if it was a good enough way for his dad to go, it was a good enough way for him."

Mixon estimated he was traveling about 75 to 80 miles per hour down U.S. 98 but denied he planned to drive into the bank building at Market Street and Avenue E.

"He said his intentions were to drive the seafood truck off into the end of Avenue E, over the city dock and into the river," reads the affidavit. "Mixon said the driver of the newspaper vehicle pulled out in front of him and he had to veer to avoid a collision and this caused him to strike the bank building."

The driver of the newspaper delivery vehicle, Steve Holt, told Segree he was stopped at the corner of US 98 and Sixth Street, facing west, when the seafood truck zoomed by.

"He could tell from the way the truck was floating (suspension maxed out) on the roadway that the truck had reached maximum speed," wrote the investigators, who noted that "Holt's observation of no other vehicles in the vicinity of the crash contradicts (Mixon's) statement of having to veer to avoid a collision with a vehicle and striking the bank building."

Holt later pulled Mixon to safety from the burning truck.

Did two stints in state prison

 If Mixon is eventually convicted and sentenced to prison, it will make the third time he has spent time behind bars in a state penitentiary.

On Oct. 28, 1985, right after his 20^th birthday, he was sentenced in Franklin County for three felonies, burglary of an unoccupied structure, armed burglary and arson.

He spent time at Apalachee West Correctional, Cross City Correctional and Martin Correctional and was released Dec. 6, 1991 after doing a little more than six years. This incarceration was marked by a long list of disciplinary actions, according to state prison officials.

On Dec. 15, 1995, he returned to prison following a conviction for marijuana sale in Escambia County. He had only two disciplinary actions during these two years behind bars, at Liberty Correctional and Walton, and was released Nov. 7, 1997 to state probation.