A Brewton was killed Wednesday evening in a single vehicle accident in the Stanley community just north of Flomaton.

James Luther McRae, 34, was killed when his 2003 Chevrolet pick-up truck left Stanley Road and crashed.

Officials said McRae had been chasing someone he thought was trying to steal something from his property, but it turned out it was teenagers who had toilet paper-rolled two neighboring houses. McRae had been on the phone with the sheriff’s department, trying to get the tag number of the teenagers’ vehicle, at the time of the crash, authorities said.

The accident occurred just before 8 p.m. Wednesday in the community situated about 15 miles northwest of Flomaton. State troopers said McRae was not wearing his seatbelt and had been speeding at the time of the crash.

McRae was a 1994 graduate of W.S. Neal High School and had previously been a firefighter for the East Brewton Fire Department. He was most recently employed as a member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Fire Department near Atmore.

Sharon Delmar, public relations spokesperson for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, expressed condolences for the family of McRae.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Firefighter McRae,” Delmar said Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

Delmar said McRae had been a part of the Poarch Fire Department for about a year and a half.

Officials with the Alabama State Troopers’ Evergreen post say the incident remains under investigation.