A safe that contained more than $100,000 cash, two dozen guns with 9,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 pieces of jewelry and 150 knives was recovered, two suspects were arrested and one gang member was on the run after the Jones County Sheriff’s Department solved a major residential burglary.
Jerry “Taz” McLain, left, and Jennifer Skipper are led out of Jones County Justice Court Thursday after their initial appearance.
“This is a very large-scale case,” Maj. Jamie Tedford of the JCSD said, adding that it may lead to a federal investigation. “It’s the largest one we’ve seen in a while. We’ve worked night and day trying to get these people their belongings back.”
Jerry “Taz” McLain, 31, of Indian Springs Road and Jennifer Skipper, 36, of Spring Road were arrested on charges related to the Jan. 15 break-in at a residence on Lowery Creek Spur off Highway 590, near Seminary. Authorities are still searching for 34-year-old Christopher Dennis, who was last seen in a white Nissan Sentra with a Lawrence County tag. He is considered armed and dangerous, JCSD officials said.
All of the suspects have interesting ties. McLain and Christopher are “ranking” members of the Simon City Royals gang, Tedford said. Skipper’s father Jerry is a retired Mississippi Department of Corrections officer.
The large safe was found in Bogue Homa Creek off Swamp Road, where it had been dumped off a bridge, Tedford said. The 48-gun capacity steel Cannon safe, which retails for more than $1,200, is 6 feet by 3-1/2 feet and weighs more than 600 pounds empty. The thieves who took it used a floor jack to lift and remove it from the home, doing severe damage to the floors and door frames.
That theft was not random, JCSD officials said, adding that there was a family connection with one of the suspects.
“They tore that house up getting it out of there,” Tedford said.
They took it to Skipper’s home, where a special power saw was used to cut a large hole in the bottom of the safe. Many of the stolen items were recovered, including most of the guns, knife collection, ammo and some jewelry. Most of the cash was spent on a two- week splurge of going on casino trips, buying a mobile home and four vehicles — a BMW, a Lexus, a Camaro and a Suburban, Tedford said.
The stolen items had substantial monetary value and significant sentimental value, Tedford said.
“When we get any case, we treat it as if it were our own,” Tedford said. “They cry when they tell us it was their grandmother’s ring, and we cry with them, and we try that much harder to get their belongings back.”
The victim was identified in court as Charles Murphy. Asked why a resident would have that much cash on hand, Tedford said, “A lot of people don’t use banks, and they feel safe keeping their money in the house.”
Both suspects made their initial appearances in Jones County Justice Court Judge Howell Beech’s chambers on Thursday afternoon and had their bonds set. McLain was being held in the Jones County Adult Detention Center on $200,000 bond for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, felony fleeing and residential burglary. Skipper was charged with residential burglary and her bond, which was set at $10,000, was revoked because she was already out on bond for a possession of meth charge in September.
Their arrests led to the execution of at least four search warrants and several more arrests.
The investigation also likely prevented more serious crimes from happening, Tedford said, noting that several cellphones and cigarette tobacco that had been packaged “to throw over prison fences” at other correctional facilities were also recovered.
“That has a significant impact since they didn’t make it in,” Tedford said. “Those gang leaders use those phones to communicate and control things on the outside. They could plan an escape or an attack on an officer. It’s a real safety issue.”
Tedford chalked it all up to “teamwork” between residents and the JCSD’s patrol, narcotics and investigations divisions, Tedford said. He singled out the work of Sgt. Keith LeRoy (investigations) and Lt. Robert Little (narcotics) and Squad D, led by Sgt. Lance Williams with deputies Matthew Bailey, Brent Beasley, Jeff Monk and Daniel Moulds.
They all helped crack the case of the missing safe after what started as a traffic stop in the Pendorff Community on Sunday. After a short pursuit, McLain ran off the road and into a ditch, so he and his passenger, 21-year-old Christian Shope of Quitman, fled on foot into a nearby residence. When deputies went in, they found McLain hiding in a closet with 10 grams of meth on him and they caught Shope.
The women in the residence, 22-year-old Amber Mozingo and 36-year-old Jamie Fortes, told deputies they were not there. Both were charged with interfering with the duties of a police officer.
It was the day after their arrests that investigators received information that McLain was believed to be involved in the burglary. Subsequent search warrants led to the arrests of Michael Bolton, 30, and Sartara Bolton, 29, for receiving stolen property. Joshua Holloway, 32, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to possess a weapon by a convicted felon. The MDOC also had a warrant for his arrest.
At Skipper’s residence, more firearms and drugs that were packaged to be sold were found. She was charged with burglary and she and Brittany Holifield, 25, were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm. Holifield’s bond was set at $50,000.
Shope was also charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and was being held on $50,000 bond.
At still another residence, 26-year-old Endia Gibson was charged with possession of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm after more of the stolen guns were found there. Her bond was set at $5,000.
Anyone with information about the burglary or who may have purchased something that was taken from the house is asked to call the JCSD at 601-425-3147.
“They need to do that so we can clear things up,” Tedford said, “before charges are brought against them.”
Dennis reportedly has a history of theft-related charges and investigators say he could be in Jones, Smith or Lawrence counties. They are also looking for other members of the criminal street gang for questioning.
The JCSD had several other recent drug arrests, pushing the total to 17 over the last week or so.
Two were jailed Monday after a possible overdose of heroin in Soso. Jason Kyle Bustin, 30, and James Roland Ezell, 22, were charged with possession of heroin and probation violation and both were jailed after recovering from a reaction to the drug.
The night before, deputies responded to a call for a man passed out in the parking lot of Dollar General in Shady Grove. They had to wake the man, and when he stepped out of the car, a bag of meth fell to the ground. Richard Hodge, 35, was charged with possession of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm.
A traffic stop that same day led to the arrests of Shannon Graham, 28, and James Graham, 30, who were charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, respectively.
A day earlier, 37-year-old Bobby Sims was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon after deputies noticed a gun case on his back seat during a safety checkpoint.
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