Arrests End Multi-County Crime Spree
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ENID LAKE – Three arrests made by deputies with the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department in February solved a string of break-ins and thefts in Yalobusha and Panola counties and led to the recovery of a 2023 Can Am side-by-side by stolen in Grenada County.
Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch reported that two suspects from Coffeeville and one from Grenada County face a barrage of charges. Michael Lee Thomas, Jr. of 747 CR 80, Coffeeville; Leykon Paige Calder, 52 CR 528, Coffeeville; and Nathan Grant Denley, 1941 Hwy. 322, Grenada, were each charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of burglary tools in Yalobusha County and burglary, larceny and conspiracy in Panola County.
Sheriff Gooch reported that Chief Deputy Thomas West and deputy Dalton Coleman were patrolling in the northwest tip of Yalobusha County just before midnight on Jan. 31 when they spotted a vehicle driving erratically. The vehicle was coming down Leslie Road in Panola County, a road that parallels Interstate 55 and turns into County Road 165 in Yalobusha County, and intersects with County Road 36, just east of the Enid Lake exit on I-55.
The vehicle repeated the same pattern several times with Chief Deputy West observing.
“I was like, what the hell are they doing,” West said.
West traveled up County Road 165 and on Leslie Road in Panola County and spotted Denley’s vehicle parked at a water treatment plant.
“I recognized his vehicle and kept going,” West, who was in an unmarked vehicle, explained.
Immediately after passing the water association, West heard radio traffic from the Panola County Sheriff’s Department stating that a burglary was in progress at the water association at the county line.
“Almost at the same time, our (Yalobusha) dispatch alerted us that a lady called in about a suspicious vehicle parked at the water association,” West said.
West turned around and attempted to stop Denley. He caught up with the vehicle as it turned on County Road 36 and traveled west crossing over I-55. Denley turned into a driveway on Hwy. 51 that was a dead end and no where to go.
“He probably thought it was a road, but at that point the short pursuit ended,” West said.
The back seat and trunk of a Cadillac stopped by deputies was loaded with stolen items from Panola and Yalobusha counties.
Deputy Coleman was only seconds behind West and they got Denley, Thomas and Calder out of the vehicle. Panola County deputies also responded. The deputies reported that there were so many stolen items on the back seat of the car that all three occupants were sitting on the front seat. They also spotted a methamphetamine pipe in plain view, giving the deputies probable cause to search the vehicle. All three suspects were transported to the Panola County jail.
On Feb. 1, Gooch said deputies were called to respond to a burglary at the Yalobusha County landfill south of Water Valley.
“Somebody broke into the office and stole a coffeepot and Dewalt grease gun” West added. “Both of those items were located in the vehicle we had seized the night before.”
Gooch also said the suspects were linked to at least two more burglaries in Panola County.
“We also recovered a golf cart in the national forest that was stolen that we are trying to link to this group,” the sheriff added.
The final link came when West learned that Grenada deputies were looking for a Can Am side-by-side stolen from the Cascilla area. West said they worked for hours tracking the side-by-side that was driven from where it was stolen to the Enid area.
“We even flew drones trying to locate it,” West said.
The break came when one of the suspects finally talked to a Grenada deputy, telling him where to find the side-by-side.
“They had parked it just across a hill from the water association bill where this all started,” West said.
West said Thomas is originally from Greenwood.
“Michael (Thomas) told us that he is probably responsible for around 600 burglaries of vehicle and houses that he has never been caught from,” West added.
Other arrests reported by the sheriff are:
• Kerry Davidson of County Road 186 in southeast Yalobusha County was arrested on Feb. 23 and charged with simple assault to create fear. Sheriff Gooch reported the arrest comes after Davidson allegedly threatened neighbors repeatedly.
“This is an ongoing problem, we previously arrested him last April for shooting into a house,” Gooch added.
The sheriff’s department is waiting on ballistics from the crime lab on the case from April, 2024.
“As soon as everything comes back from the crime lab we will present the 2024 case to the grand jury and hopefully get some long-term relief for the neighborhood,” the sheriff added.
Davidson is currently incarcerated at the Yalobusha County Detention Center and the bond was set at $1,000.
• Tiffany Turner and Ricky Watson, both of Coffeeville, were arrested on Feb. 23. Turner was arrested on an arrest warrant for sale of a controlled substance that stemmed from a joint operation with the sheriff’s department and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN) . Watson was arrested on a warrant out of Grenada County and turned over to deputies from the neighboring county.
Gooch reported that Watson had been previously arrested in the same MBN operation that nabbed Turner and was out on bond for sale of a controlled substance.
• Allen McKinney and Katie Ford, both of Oakland, were arrested for domestic violence on Feb. 18. They were arrested at a residence on Redbud Street in Oakland.
• Catherine White was arrested at a traffic stop at Hwy. 32 and County Road 170 on Feb. 13 on a capias. The capias was issued after White was indicted by a grand jury in the Second Judicial District on Dec. 7 for possession of a controlled substance. According to the indictment, White was found in possession of methamphetamine, more than two grams but less than 10 grams, on May 4, 2022.
Joshua Dyer was also in the vehicle stopped by deputies and was taken into custody for an arrest warrant for the City of Water Valley.
• Bernard White of Grenada was taken into custody during a traffic stop at the Hwy. 32 and 51 intersection in Oakland on Feb. 11 for an outstanding arrest warrant issued by Grenada County.
• Timothy Brown of Water Valley was arrested for DUI, fifth offense, indecent exposure and obstructing a public street. Sheriff Gooch reported Brown was urinating in the middle of County Road 225, not far from his residence, when a patrolling deputy spotted him. The sheriff said vehicles had stopped behind Brown’s vehicle while he relieved himself.
“We have two more felony DUI arrests on Brown that are working through the court system,” Gooch said.
• Brandon Cosby of Panola County was taken into custody at a traffic Stop on Hwy. 32 in Oakland. Cosby had an outstanding arrest warrant from the City of Sardis.
• Dustin Golden of Coffeeville was taken into custody at a traffic stop on County Road 211 on Feb. 4. Golden had an outstanding arrest warrant from Coffeevillle.
• Trampus Turner of Coffeeville was taken into custody during a traffic stop on I-55 near Oakland on Feb. 1. Turner had an outstanding arrest warrant.
• Caneisha Tellis of Grenada was taken in custody in Oakland for an outstanding arrest warrant from Grenada County.
• Lionel Robinson of Grenada surrendered to deputies at the sheriff’s department on Jan. 23. Robinson had an outstanding arrest warrant.
• Brittany Darby was arrested for domestic violence on Jan. 17. Darby was arrested on County Road 53 outside of Water Valley.
• Titus Johnson was taken into custody during a traffic stop on County Road 436 for an outstanding warrant on Jan. 14.
• Damarcus Hart of Coffeeville was arrested at his residence on County Road 211 on Jan. 11. Hart had a warrant for drug sale charges in a case worked by the sheriff’s department and MBN agents.
• Nicholas Hardy was arrested for introducing contraband into a correctional facility on Jan. 14. Hardy allegedly had a cell phone inside the Yalobusha county jail. Hardy had been booked into the jail a day earlier for an outstanding warrant.
• Danny Henderson was arrested for grand larceny on Jan. 13 at his residence on Pope/Water Valley road. Henderson allegedly stole copper from a business in the industrial park in Water Valley.
• Corey Reid was arrested on Jan. 13 for an outstanding warrant from Lafayette County. The arrest was made during a traffic stop on County Road 115.
• Jamie Black was arrested during a traffic stop on Hwy. 32 on Jan. 8. Black had a NCIC warrant out of Texas.
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