Three drug cases in three days
Published 7:00 am Thursday, August 22, 2019
Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department narcotics investigators and patrol deputies were a busy from Aug. 10 to 13.
Sheriff David Allison said that on Aug. 10, narcotics investigators and patrol deputies went to a home located at 115 Antoinette Dr. where they spoke with a resident of the home, 40-year-old Damon Eugene Bailey.
A search of the home located a distribution amount of heroin valued at $4,000, along with a smaller package of heroin, digital scales and other packaging items indicative of the illegal distribution of a controlled substance, Allison said.
The investigators also found about $15,000 in cash and some pills identified as Xanax. All of the evidence and cash was confiscated, along with a Cadillac STS and Dodge Ram pickup truck, due to the cash and vehicles allegedly being acquired or used in the distribution of narcotics, Allison said.
Bailey was arrested for possession of heroin with intent to distribute, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and a probation violation with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Allison said.
The next day, deputies conducted a stop on a vehicle for careless driving and a seatbelt violation. While speaking with the occupants of the vehicle, the deputies noticed indicators that narcotics could be inside, prompting them to search it, Allison said.
Inside the vehicle, the deputies found heroin on 50-year-old Julie McKean’s person, leading to all of the occupants being transported to the jail. Allison said a warrant was obtained for McKean’s home, located at 20 Davis Dawsey Road., where they found digital scales along with other items commonly used in the distribution of heroin. Allison said law enforcement personnel also found a distribution amount of marijuana in the home, which is the home of 62-year-old Cinda Marie Thigpen.
McKean was arrested for possession of heroin, while Thigpen was arrested for possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, tampering with physical evidence, careless driving and no seatbelt. A third occupant of the vehicle, 50-year-old Alecia Kathleen Stockstill, of 7111 Road 406, Kiln, was arrested for unrelated warrants with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, Allison said.
On Aug. 13, patrol deputies conducted another stop on a vehicle for a traffic infraction, which resulted in them speaking with 55-year-old George Henry Gwinn of 121 Hendrix Lane, Lumberton, Allison said.
While speaking with Gwinn, the deputies picked up indicators that narcotics could be in the vehicle, leading to a search that located methamphetamine inside. Gwinn was arrested for possession of methamphetamine at that time, Allison said.
The Sheriff would like to thank his patrol deputies for their hard work in being alert of each situation to identify evidence that led to the removal of illegal narcotics from the streets of Pearl River County.