News Briefs From Across The State
Man claims he was wounded in battle
A man who falsely claimed he was the recipient of a Purple Heart in order to collect benefits will stand trial on Jan. 24. Charles Welshans, of Tate County, was scheduled to appear in federal court this week in Greenville, but the trial has been rescheduled.
Welshans claimed he was wounded in a mortar attack in Lebanon and that he had been awarded the Purple Heart. The government claims that between 2004 and 2008, Welshans fraudulently collected $24,844 in benefits.
Welshans pleaded not guilty and his bond was set at $5,000.
The Purple Heart is awarded to those injured or killed in combat.
Woman to be sentenced in Katrina fraud case
A woman who falsified documents to get disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina will be sentenced in court this Thursday. Crystal V. Vance was charged in a nine-count indictment that said she falsified a tax receipt from the Harrison County Tax Assessor’s office in 2006 to gain disaster relief benefits.
Authorities also said Vance lied to get $1,000 in post-Katrina benefits from FEMA.
Vance pleaded guilty to fraud in June.
Man killed in Friday night rollover
The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle accident that claimed the life of a Jackson County man. Lloyd Eubanks was pronounced dead at the scene Friday night after authorities said he ran off the road and flipped.
The highway patrol said Eubanks was traveling down U.S. Highway 614 when he went off the left side of the roadway and rolled over several times. Authorities said Eubanks was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Two men arrested in car burglaries
The Pascagoula Police Department has arrested two men in connection with four separate car burglaries in various areas of the city. Jamie Lee Rouse, 26, and Richard Lynn Gibson, Jr., 31, both of Pascagoula, were charged with burglary, and they are currently awaiting bond hearings.
Police have recovered all the stolen property and returned those items to the rightful owners.
The matter is still under investigation.
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