By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – An attorney for an Alabaster man charged with allegedly causing “serious physical injury” to a victim during a February robbery has asked a judge to show leniency on the suspect because he “suffers from a weak mental capacity.”

In a motion filed in Shelby County Circuit Court in late June, Jeannie Jones, attorney for 29-year-old Alabaster resident Anthony Todd Faison, asked Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves to take a few factors into consideration if Faison is found guilty or pleads guilty to the felony charges against the suspect.

“The defendant suffers from a weak mental capacity and could be classified as ‘slow’ or ‘learning disabled,’” read Jones’ motion. “Third parties are likely to prey upon the defendant and take advantage of his weak mental state and impaired judgment and cause him to engage in illicit acts.”

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office brought Faison into custody on Feb. 18 and charged him with one felony count of third-degree burglary and a misdemeanor count of attempting to elude a law enforcement officer.

After Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Faison, whose address is listed on Dogwood Trail in Alabaster, they turned him over to the Calera Police Department, which charged Faison with one felony count of first-degree robbery.

Faison’s charge came after he allegedly robbed a gas station on U.S. 31 in Calera on Feb. 18, during which he allegedly stole an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency and caused “serious physical injury” to a female victim striking her in the face, according to Faison’s arrest warrant.

After the robbery was reported, the Calera Police Department issued a “be on the lookout” notice to surrounding law enforcement agencies with the suspect’s vehicle description.

A short time later, Sheriff’s Office deputies located Faison’s vehicle in Columbiana, where Faison allegedly fled from his vehicle and entered a residence, garnering the burglary and attempt to elude charges.

When he was arrested on Feb. 18, Faison was on probation for a 2010 Alabaster gas station robbery he pleaded guilty to in 2011. According to court records, Faison also previously pleaded guilty to three third-degree burglary charges in 2005 and one third-degree burglary charge in 2008.

On Aug. 5, Faison’s charges were bound over to a Shelby County grand jury, which will decide if it will uphold the charges.

First-degree robbery is a Class A felony and third-degree burglary is a Class C felony. If convicted, Faison could face between 10 years and life in prison for the robbery charge and between two and 20 years in prison for the burglary charge.