He served as Chief of Police of the Alabama Port Authority.
He was the Democratic nominee for Sheriff of Mobile County in 1998, losing that effort.
He was also a survivor of a fatal crash outside Mobile’s I-10 tunnel 20 years ago.
Herbert McCants, Jr. of Mobile died July 3.
McCants, from Mt. Vernon, Alabama, went to school at Citronelle High School and Troy University.
A horrific wreck on December 3, 2004 injured McCants and killed his colleague from the Alabama Port Authority. A double-decker cattle truck loaded with 120 cows went out of control as it exited the west end of the I-10 Wallace Tunnel. It hit the car driven by Robert Lampley, supervisor of cargo for the Alabama Port Authority, who died in the crash. It seriously injured his passenger, McCants, who was then the Chief of Police of the Port Authority.
Lampley and McCants were in a full-sized Ford SUV. The driver of the cattle truck was not injured. Excessive speed and a shifting load were suspected.
The crash caused a brief re-examination of the engineering of the western exit of the I-10 Wallace Tunnel, which curves sharply to the left while going steeply uphill. It was determined that the exit could not reasonably be fixed, and it has not been fixed.
No cause of death or arrangements for McCants have been announced at this time.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is the colorful and positive about Alabama. He writes about Alabama people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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