Suspect freed from jail because he has COVID-19 goes on crime spree, MS police say
A Mississippi man is back behind bars after going on a violent crime spree and leading police on a chase across two cities, hours after his release from jail on Thursday.
Vincent Ogiamien, 29, is now charged with several crimes including attempted sexual assault, kidnapping and auto burglary, Brandon Police Department officials said in a news release posted online.
Ogiamien was arrested and jailed on a DUI charge June 21 but was released around 3 p.m. Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, according to local station WLBT, citing police records.
Hours after his release, police said the suspect “proceeded to commit a series of home invasions. . . and attempted sexual assaults, house burglary, motor vehicle theft, armed robbery and a shooting incident at multiple locations” between Brandon and Jackson, the news release states.
Around 4 p.m., Ogiamien stopped a woman driving her car and forced his way inside before ordering her to drive to another location, authorities said. Police said he allegedly then choked her, threatened her life and tried to sexually assault her inside the car.
The victim managed to escape by sounding the car’s horn during the assault, according to the news release.
Ogiamien fled after he was confronted by a bystander but continued to commit other crimes in the area, police said.
“Ogiamien switched vehicles on more than one occasion, and is suspected of carjacking at least one of these vehicles in the city of Jackson overnight before returning to Brandon,” police said in the release. “In the early morning hours of June 26, 2020, Ogiamien returned to Brandon and broke into another residence, where he attempted to sexually assault the resident.”
Brandon Assistant Police Chief Chris Butts said suspect stopped by a convenience store at some point. There, he “displayed a weapon and exposed himself to a store clerk, who ran away,” Butts said, local station WAPT reported.
“Another citizen saw what was happening,” Butts said, according to the news station. “They exchanged gunshots with each other. Nobody was hit in that exchange of gunfire. We don’t know who the other individual was. He left the scene.”
After that, Ogiamien is accused of breaking into another home and shooting a woman inside, according to WLBT, citing police. Her condition is unknown.
Authorities said a patrolman spotted a stolen vehicle from Jackson driving down Highway 18 a short time later and tried to stop it. That’s when the driver, “later identified as Ogiamien,” gave chase for several miles down the highway toward Jackson before crashing the car.
He was uninjured and arrested without incident, according to the news release. Police also found a gun on Ogiamien, who was a felon on parole at the time of his arrest, WAPT reported.
Police are still investigating the incidents, but said additional charges against the Mississippi man are likely.
Ogiamien remains held at the Rankin County Detention Center without bond, authorities said.