By Trent Moore
The Cullman Times
HANCEVILLE — A California man wanted for aggravated sexual assault of a minor was arrested Friday by Hanceville Police.
Edward Morenzi Vincent, 53, was arrested on the felony sex charges stemming from a Riverside County, California police investigation. He was wanted on a $1 million cash bond in Calif.
Hanceville Police Sergeant Danny Collins said his office was notified by the FBI that Vincent had been flagged attempting to buy a handgun at Hanceville Gun and Ammo earlier this week.
“We sent some officers down there, but he was already gone,” Collins said. “He had a Hayden address listed as his residence on the application, so we checked that out and he wasn’t there, either.”
Collins said officers then decided to wait it out at the gun store, in hopes that Vincent would return.
“They had told him to come back, so we staked it out and picked him up when he did,” he said. “He was arrested at approximately 1:20 p.m. Friday afternoon. We got this arrest because a couple of officers were being resilient, staying on the trail and following leads.”
Vincent was in the Hanceville area because he claimed he had family nearby, Collins said.
“He said his son had moved here years ago and he was in town trying to visit him,” he said.
Vincent is currently being held at the Cullman County Detention Center until he can be extradited back to California.
Another man — Jackie Miller, 40 — was with Vincent at the time of his arrest. Vincent was wanted in Blount County and taken into custody on three warrants for failure to appear for various charges. Miller has since been turned over to Blount County authorities.
* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.
