By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster resident Carol Shubert was enjoying a quiet Saturday night at home on July 19 when she heard an unsettling noise.

“I thought I heard someone in the house, so I barricaded myself in my room and called the police,” Shubert said during a July 22 phone interview, noting she was still shaken up by the incident.

Within seconds of Shubert’s call to the Alabaster Police Department, an officer who was patrolling nearby was on the scene. When the officer arrived at about 10 p.m., he found a man attempting to break into Shubert’s House in the Portsouth neighborhood, said Police Chief Curtis Rigney.

When the officer arrived on the scene, the suspect fled the house, resulting in a brief foot pursuit before the suspect and the officer fell off a retaining wall near Shubert’s house.

“They didn’t see the retaining wall because it was so dark outside. Both the suspect and the officer were injured,” Rigney said.

Alabaster Fire Department medics treated the officer and the suspect, Selma resident Terrance Qwentine Chestnut, before both were transported to Shelby Baptist Medical Center for treatment. As of July 24, the officer and Chestnut had been released from the hospital, and Chestnut had been charged with second-degree assault, second-degree burglary, possession of burglar’s tools and resisting arrest.

Chestnut was released from jail on bonds totaling $25,500 the same day he was arrested.

Several other Alabaster police officers arrived on the scene shortly after the initial officer responded, and police dispatchers remained on the phone with Shubert, who was still locked in her bedroom.

“There were probably 10 police cars out there while this was going on,” Shubert said. “I told them I thought there may be someone else in my house, so they told me to stay in my room while they scanned the house.”

“The officers got her out of the house, and then they cleared the home,” Rigney said, noting no other suspects were found at the home.

Shubert said she has “nothing but praise” for the department.

“I am OK because of them. They couldn’t have been any better,” Shubert said. “I want people to know what a wonderful police department we have.”

“Miss Shubert handled it very well. She barricaded herself in her room and called the police immediately,” Rigney said. “It was a dangerous situation, and we are grateful she is OK.”