News - Local

Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

AROUND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI

Donate for care packages

OCEAN SPRINGS — The AT&T Pioneer’s Military Mission Sparkling Support of Soldiers and their Families will be sending shoe boxes stuffed with personal care items to soldiers deployed overseas.

Donated items can be dropped off from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the AT&T Wireless Call Center, 3501 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs.

Some of the items needed are toiletries, books, batteries, wet wipes, DVDs, wash clothes, small games, calling cards, snacks and personal notes of encouragement. Call for a complete list of items.

Details: Kathleen Shaughnessy, 858-5009, ks5332@att.com or Diane Bullock, 819-6193 or db9225@att.com.

— Sun Herald

Injured shrimper taken ashore for help

HORN ISLAND — A man who broke his leg and was unconscious on a shrimp boat was rescued Tuesday after the state Department of Marine Resources responded to a mayday call.

Coast Guard personnel helped determine the location of the boat and DMR personnel went onboard the Capt. Dennis and determined the man’s leg was partially severed from just above the ankle on his right leg. The man, later identified as Binh Nguyen of Biloxi, also was in shock, said a DMR spokesperson.

A DMR crew escorted the boat through the Biloxi Channel, where the Coast Guard put a paramedic on board and then placed Nguyen in the basket of a helicopter for transport to a hospital in Mobile.

The accident occurred about 3 miles south of the west tip of Horn Island.

— Robin Fitzgerald

Fugitive arrested as bus arrives in town

GULFPORT — An arrest at a bus terminal in Gulfport on Wednesday involved a man listed as a fugitive from justice and wanted by police in Mobile.

Mobile police notified local officers that Fredrick Richardson, 33, was bound for Texas and his bus would be stopping in Gulfport. Detectives waited at the station and took Richardson in custody once the bus arrived.

Richardson, of Bay Minette, Ala., is wanted on a charge of credit-card fraud. He was held without bond at the Harrison County jail pending extradition to Alabama.

— Robin Fitzgerald

Teen charged in gun thefts from break-in at pawn shop

GULFPORT — Todd Anthony Crawford of Lucky Mays Road in Gulfport has been charged with the burglary of a pawn shop where multiple handguns were stolen.

The break-in at Jay Jay’s Pawn and Jewelry occurred in the early-morning hours of Oct. 29. Police said entry was gained by kicking in the front glass of the business. Investigators identified Crawford, 17, as the suspect and recovered stolen firearms from his home, police said Thursday. The shop is on U.S. 49 downtown.

The investigation also led to the arrests of Donnell Lee Dunigan, 18, and a 16-year-old. Dunigan and the juvenile are both charged with possession of stolen weapons.

The juvenile was taken to the Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center. Crawford and Dunigan were held at the adult jail. Justice Court Judge Melvin Ray set bonds at $50,000 for Crawford and $100,000 for Dunigan.

At the time of Dunigan’s arrest, he was out on bond for a pending charge of aggravated assault. A judge revoked that bond on Monday.

— Robin Fitzgerald

Gulfport teen charged in auto-burglary case

GULFPORT — Jerry Lee Griffith, 17, of Norris Circle, Gulfport, has been charged as an adult in an auto-burglary investigation.

A police spokesman said Griffith is believed to be the one who burglarized a vehicle in the 10700 block of East Bay Tree Drive on Monday. Police said he turned himself in Wednesday after learning of a warrant for his arrest.

He was held at the Harrison County jail. Justice Court Judge Gene Dedeaux set bond at $10,000.

— Robin Fitzgerald