Picayune Police Department officers conducted a number of arrests while on patrol and responding to community complaints.
While on patrol on Nov. 2, an officer saw a vehicle with no tag light, according to reports filed with the department. Closer examination determined the tag was expired, leading to a traffic stop.
During the stop, the officer spoke with the driver, identified as 37-year-old Gene Peter Powell, of 84 McNeill McHenry Road, Poplarville, who said his driver’s license was suspended and he could not provide proof of insurance.
Powell was asked to exit the vehicle, and while doing so the officer observed a syringe on the driver’s side of the vehicle containing a substance field tests tentatively determined to be methamphetamine, the report states.
He was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, switched tag, no tag light, driving while license suspended and no insurance.
In a separate incident reported on Nov. 8, officers responded to a Picayune home in reference to a suspicious person knocking at the door. The report states that the officer arrived to find a man who identified himself as Dustin Keil near the home. He told the officer he feared for his life, prompting him to knock at the door to find a safe place. During a pat down of the man, the officer found a bag containing a rock like substance and determined the man’s true identity to be 26-year-old Dustin Patrick Fambrough of 29292 Waverly Drive, Slidell. Fambrough was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and providing false information to an officer.
On Nov. 8, officers responded to a call from a concerned homeowner who was out of town, who said a neighbor called to say suspicious people were in his backyard trying to break into the home.
The report states that the officer arrived to find 21-year-old Michelle Elizabeth Burks of 733 Ontario Ave., Bogalusa and 26-year-old Wyatt Ethan Mitchell of 206 W. Sycamore Rd., on the back porch. They told the officer that the homeowner gave them permission to be there, but the officer noticed a screen had been pulled away from one of the windows. According to the report, a search of Mitchell found an orange syringe, and near where Mitchell and Burks were sitting was a bottle containing a substance believed to be methamphetamine. Also in the area was a small bowl and a baggy with a residue believed to be methamphetamine.
Burks and Mitchell were arrested for attempted commercial burglary, felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia.
On Oct. 24, an officer engaged in a chase when the driver of a vehicle declined to stop for speeding.
The report states that 26-year-old Christopher Allen Wilson of 1005 Cole Court, Slidell, La., was clocked at 50 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone along Bruce Street. The officer attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle continued toward Memorial Boulevard, almost striking several vehicles. The pursuit continued onto S. Haugh Avenue at a high rate of speed before turning into the Grande Oaks apartments. While in pursuit of the vehicle, the officer observed several people dive out of the way of Wilson’s vehicle to avoid being struck, before it impacted a parked car. The report states that Wilson exited the vehicle after the collision, and fled on foot, disregarding the officer’s commands to stop. The pursuit continued on foot until Wilson was captured in the parking lot in front of Burke’s Outlet. A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a bottle of liquor, beer and the smell of marijuana. Wilson was arrested for failure to stop when an officer signals, DUI refused test, open beer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest by fleeing, no seatbelt, two counts of speeding, leaving the scene of an accident, driving while license suspended and no insurance, the report states.