By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Alabaster Police Department detectives arrested the principal of Bibb County High School Aug. 15 after they said the man was involved in a criminal trespassing incident in Alabaster.

Alabaster detectives arrested 59-year-old Lee Vanfleet, who lives in the 300 block of Main Street in Brent and is the principal of Bibb County High School, at the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at about 2 p.m. after the suspect turned himself in, said Alabaster Deputy Chief Curtis Rigney.

Vanfleet was charged with one count of third-degree criminal trespassing, which was tied to a previous domestic incident in Alabaster, Rigney said.

Rigney also said Vanfleet was “notified of a protection from abuse order,” which is a court order designed to offer protection for victims who have been threatened, harassed or abused by a “spouse, former spouse, common-law or former common-law spouse, parent, child, person with whom the you have a child in common, or a present or former household member,” according to the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

According to Alabama law, third-degree criminal trespassing is a minor violation and occurs when a suspect “knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon a premises.”

“I am really limited in what I can tell you about this case. I can’t release any information about the victim or anything like that,” Rigney said. “But it appears to be a domestic-related incident.”

Vanfleet arrived at the Alabaster Police Department in a squad car at about 2:30 p.m. Aug. 15 wearing a tan suit and handcuffs. He was released from custody on a $500 bond shortly after he arrived at the station, and did not spend any time behind bars.

As of Aug. 16, Vanfleet had not returned an email seeking comment.