You know Sheriff Rick Singleton from the interviews he did when Vicky White and Casey White were on the run. But did you know he was a pro wrestler, and owned a BBQ restaurant? Meet the sheriff here.
A framed drawing of a little boy in overalls gazing at a sheriff’s patrol vehicle has a special place in Rick Singleton’s office – eye level across from the desk of the Lauderdale County sheriff.
“I don’t feel like he would have handled this past week or so as well as he has if it was not for his faith,’’ she said. “I understand I’ve be the subject of all kinds of memes on social media – my voice, my looks, and everything else,’’ he said. “I learned a long time ago not to let that bother me. I’ve even been called Buford T. Justice.”
“He’s such a man of integrity,’’ said the Rev. Chad Hess, Singleton’s pastor at Woodmont Baptist Church in Florence. “He does things the right way, which is why he’s been in that position so long.” “Two of the deputies drove me out there because I was going to ride with them after the game,’’ he recalled.“One of the deputies turned around a said, ‘Why would you do this? Why would you spend money out of your pocket to buy that uniform and come out here on a Friday night? You’re a young man, single and work for no pay,’ and I said, ‘Because one day I want to be sheriff.’’'
“I never had hobbies or anything because every spare minute I was either working a second job or working overtime or running a business,’’ he said. “That’s why I’m still working at 70.”“Like I thought I was qualified,’’ he said with a chuckle. His career shifted gears, though, and he went to work for the Florence Police Department. He spent 32 years and four months there and would serve more than 16 years as chief.
He considered it and opened Singleton’s Bar b Que in 1993. Just like the ambulance service he had owned several years earlier, he considered it a backup plan should police work become too much to handle.His wife ran the restaurant, but Singleton was a familiar face there as well. “I guess you gauge whether you’re good or not by where you fall on the card,’’ he said. “I was in a few main events, so I guess I was doing OK.”He met Peggy during a roadblock – a driver’s license checkpoint - in 1975. There were three couples in the car, and the driver had an expired license.
The Singletons have two daughters – schoolteacher Stephanie and lawyer Scarlett – and two step granddaughters.“They adore their dad,’’ Peggy said. “And if anything comes across, and it does, negative about him, they get so upset. They take it so hard. I think it bothers them more than it does him.”Watching television and taking care of the dogs constitutes a large part of his social life, he said.
“His family is such a strong family of faith and I think being able to go home at night with all of this going on and know his family was praying for him and lifting him up, I think that carried him through as well,’’ he said. Singleton was transparent, available and accommodating throughout the entire 11-day ordeal. As a graduate of the FBI National Academy – he also has a master’s degree in criminal justice – he knew what would be expected of him.“Somebody told me once, ‘The only time I see you on TV is when something bad happens,’’' Singleton said. “Well, that’s when I’m supposed to step up.”
The realization that she was not being coerced slowly came into focus, he said, as investigators watched the video of her leading him from the jail.In the aftermath of her death, Singleton said he and his staff “have experienced a full range of emotions.”
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