It just means more in the SEC. No story proved that more than when Alabama fan Harvey Updyke poisoned Auburn’s two giant oak trees at Toomer’s Corner in late 2010. The crime gained national attention when Updyke went on the Paul Finebaum Show to brag about what he had done nearly two months afterward, setting in motion one of the most bizarre stories of the past decade.
Harvey Updyke, the Alabama fan known for poisoning the Toomer's Oaks in 2010, has paid less than $5,000 of the nearly $800,000 he owes Auburn University. https://t.co/naPyxlcLhp pic.twitter.com/A72QyAZ4Tc
— CBS 42 (@CBS_42) August 14, 2019
On Wednesday evening, CBS42 in Birmingham, Alabama reported that Harvey Updyke had only paid a pittance of what he owed Auburn for destroying the two trees. Updyke was sentenced to three years of jail time and five years of probation back in 2013, and the court mandated him to pay Auburn approximately $800,000 in restitution after the university was unable to save the trees.
According to the news station, Updyke has paid less than $5,000 of that fine, and he has nearly gone to jail at least once for falling so far behind on his payments. Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes has been closely monitoring the situation, and he told CBS42:
“Harvey Updyke has never left my radar. We have been keeping an eye on his payments or more specifically, his non-payment, and he has made exactly two payments for a total of $200 in the past year. Because of that, we have been looking for him for close to a year, and we finally found him.”
As a result of his failure to meet his monthly restitution payments, Updyke has been ordered to go to court in October. Hughes stated that a warrant will be issued for his arrest if he fails to show up for his court date.
Before the world knew Harvey Updyke, they knew Al from Dadeville. No one knew the trees at Toomer’s Corner had been poisoned until he called until Paul Finebaum’s radio show and told the world what he had done after Auburn came from behind to beat Alabama 28-27 in the 2010 Iron Bowl on their way to a national championship. Updyke said:
“The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn, Ala., because I lived 30 miles away, and I poisoned the two Toomer’s trees. I put Spike 80DF in ’em.”
Subsequent tests determined that the trees had indeed been poisoned, and despite Auburn’s best efforts they were unable to be saved. The school has had a hard time planting new oak trees in their place over the last few years, as the herbicide continues to affect the soil.
H/T CBS42 and AL.com
