Indianola police officer fired for choking man

News Briefs From Across The State

By Monica Land

Man was going to check on grandmother

The City Council has voted to fire a police officer amid allegations that he acted inappropriately in the line of duty.

WXVT reports the council took the action on Tuesday, Aug. 13, against Officer Scott Hagerman. He had been on the force for 2 years.

City officials say the firing was tied to allegations that Hagerman choked a man who arrived at an accident scene to check on his grandmother and that he pushed the woman into a car.

Police Chief Richard O'Bannon investigated and asked for the special meeting with the City Council.

Picayune woman booked on shoplifting, drug charges

Picayune police say they arrested a 32-year-old woman on shoplifting charges, then booked her again for possession of methamphetamine.

Officers tell WLOX that Shannon Willis of Picayune was arrested after allegedly shoplifting a New Orleans Saints shirt and jogging pants at a Walmart store.

Then at the Picayune jail, a female officer says she found a bag containing the drug stuffed in the woman's buttocks during a search.

Jerry Magri, assistant to the police chief, says Willis was booked with possession of a controlled substance and shoplifting.

State official: US agency ignoring fraud victims

A Mississippi state official says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to distribute $100 million to 39,000 U.S. investors who lost money because of fraud by a financial firm.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann on Wednesday, Aug. 13 said the federal agency has ignored inquiries about the money. He filed a brief supporting a federal lawsuit that seeks to force the SEC to distribute the funds.

Memphis, Tennessee-based Morgan Keegan & Co. agreed in June 2011 to pay $200 million to settle civil fraud charges that it overstated the value of mortgage investments as the housing market collapsed.

Hosemann says states distributed $100 million to victims in 2012, but the rest remains in a SEC fund.

SEC spokesman John Nester said there's a proposed distribution plan under consideration.

4 arrested in Hattiesburg killing

Hattiesburg police said four people have been arrested in the killing of a Florida man beaten to death at a Hattiesburg hotel.

WDAM reports the body of 51-year-old William Arthur Kane was found Tuesday, Aug. 6 at the Budget Inn on U.S. Highway 49.

Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict said an autopsy showed he died of blows to the head.

Police say they have arrested Mark Joyce, 28, of Hattiesburg, William Farrell, 32 of Arab, Ala., Virie Parker, 25 of Hattiesburg and Marquise Dean, 24, of Hattiesburg. All were booked with murder.

Housekeepers at the hotel found Kane's body around 8 a.m. that Tuesday.