News Briefs From Across The State
Victim served on the force for nearly 30 years
Jackson police are still trying to determine what caused one of their own to crash into a tree during a single vehicle accident on Sept. 9. Fifty-five-year-old John Whitehead was found by authorities around 11:52 p.m. after his car veered off the road and struck the tree. Whitehead was sitting in the driver’s seat, unconscious, and he was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency personnel arrived.
Officer Colendula Green said Whitehead was driving a 2007 gray Nissan Maxima when witnesses said he veered into the opposite lane of traffic. Reportedly, one motorist was traveling east on Raymond Road and she swerved off the road to keep from being struck by Whitehead. The motorist told police Whitehead’s car went airborne before it hit the tree.
Green said Whitehead had been a Jackson police officer for more than 28 years, and Fox 40 reported that Whitehead was formally assigned to guard the late mayor of Jackson Frank Melton.
The accident remains under investigation.
School systems to offer free dental care
The Pascagoula and Gautier schools are willing offer free onsite dental care for children for a second year. The Mississippi Press reports that the school board has signed a memorandum of understanding with RDC Mobile Dental Clinic/RDC Outreach LLC of Cleveland, Miss.
The company is offering the service this school year.
RDC is in 20-25 school districts now, says company spokesman Mike Murphy, and has served about 8,000 children in south Mississippi since 2009.
Officials say it is intended to serve underprivileged students, but also can be helpful for parents who don’t have time to check their child out of school and to the dentist.
The company provides personnel and dental equipment. That services include an exam, cleanings, fluoride treatments and minor fillings that require no drilling or needles.
2 convicted for possessing fake credit cards
A federal jury has convicted two men from Miami for possession of about 91 counterfeit credit cards. U.S. Attorney John Dowdy said 54-year-old Juan Carrasco-Sanchez, also known as Juan Carlos Sanchez, and 23-year-old Orlando Quintana Rojano, also known as Orlando Rojano Quintana, will be sentenced Dec. 13. Each faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Vicksburg Police arrested the men March 2 after a traffic stop. The false credit cards, found in their car, were embossed with account numbers that did not belong to the persons named on the face of the cards.
2 sentenced in marijuana case
Two more people have been sentenced for their part in a large marijuana distribution conspiracy which was being operated out of the central Mississippi city of Forest. Thirty-four-year-old Damon Jones, of Forest, and 46-year-old Lornell Von Moore, of Louin, were each sentenced on Sept. 15 by U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee.
Jones was sentenced to seven years, eight months in prison, followed by five years of supervised released. Von Moore received a nine-year sentence followed by four years of supervised release.
Authorities said an investigation led to two different indictments, charging 14 people with various counts of conspiring to distribute thousands of kilograms of marijuana. All 14 pleaded guilty; 13 have been sentenced.
The remaining defendant, Shannon Hall, will be sentenced Sept. 29.
Man steals more than $10,000 from vehicle in hotel parking lot
Jackson County authorities said a man staying at the Days Inn Motel on Washington Avenue allegedly stole more than $10,000 in equipment from the vehicle of another guest staying at the motel.
Thirty-four-year-old Todd Alan Wentworth, of Biloxi, was arrested on July 14 and charged with two counts of commercial burglary of an automobile.
Authorities said on July 13, deputies responded to the motel in reference to an auto burglary. The victims informed deputies that $6,000 worth of fishing equipment, two handguns, two GPS systems, four pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses and various other items were stolen from their vehicle during the night.
Investigators pulled the motel’s surveillance video and Wentworth, who was renting a room at the same motel, was allegedly seen taking the items.
Investigators have since recovered the stolen property. Wentworth was taken into custody and transported to the Jackson County Detention Center.
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