Police identify man found dead after jumping into water along Causeway

Police Chief David Edgar said the incident started around 9 a.m. Saturday at the Dollar General on Highway 225. The chief said Rudolph stole something from the store and took off. Witnesses were able to describe the man and his vehicle to police.

A short time later, a Spanish Fort police officer spotted the vehicle on the Causeway and turned on their blue lights. Edgar said the man immediately stopped, got out of the vehicle, and started running to the water. He jumped in near the old Drifter's Lounge building.

Officers said the man was trying to swim to an island when he started going under the water. Edgar said the officers threw a rescue disk into the water but the man couldn't reach it. Edgar says some good Samaritans spotted the body and notified police.

Crews from Daphne Search and Rescue and the Alabama State Troopers Marine Division were called to help find the man. His body was discovered and pulled from the Pass Picada around 1:30 p.m.

According to court records, this isn't Rudolph's first time being accused of the same thing. He was out on bond after a Theft of Property 3rd felony charge from stealing cigarettes in November of 2017. Police also tell us he was accused of stealing about 10 thousand dollars worth of cigarettes from stores in George County, Mississippi.

Paula Barnhill and her husband saw it happening while passing by heading from Spanish Fort to Mobile this morning.

"We left to go over to Mobile earlier and we saw a couple of police cars with a small car stopped on the side of the road and it had the car wedged in between two police cars," she said.

Unknowingly, they came back to shop at the very store that police said it started at this morning. She says it broke her heart to hear that something that seemed so simple, ended so tragically.

"It really to me is kind of sad the way it ended. I hated that he died or drowned," Barnhill said.

Investigators said an autopsy will be performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine the cause of death. Spanish Fort Police said details about Rudolph's death will be presented to the Baldwin County District Attorney for review by a Baldwin County Grand Jury.