The number of commercial and residential burglaries reported to Vicksburg police in 2006 rose for the second straight year, and Chief Tommy Moffett blamed many of those crimes on two men serving jail time.

&#8220There is no doubt in my mind that Darrah Williams and Joe Howard are responsible for well above the increase we see in burglaries,” Moffett said. &#8220If those two stay in jail, you’ll see a substantial decrease in burglaries this year.”

More than 460 burglary reports were taken by police last year and 60 people, including Williams and Howard, were arrested.

In 2005, 411 burglaries were reported and, the previous year, the number was 489.

Williams, 39, 742 Dabney Ave., is being held at the Marshall County Correctional Facility awaiting trial on seven counts of business burglary. He was arrested in February and charged with break-ins at multiple businesses in a square-mile area near Interstate 20, encompassing Mission 66, Indiana Avenue, North and South Frontage roads and Halls Ferry Road.

In October 1995, Williams had been charged with a string of business burglaries dating to 1988 and had spent nearly a decade in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman before being released in the summer of 2005. He was on parole from the Mississippi Department of Corrections when he was arrested last year.

As for Howard, 39, 1923 Baldwin Ferry Road, he’s in the Warren County Jail after his arraignment in October on six indictments for business burglary.

He was arrested in August, police say, while breaking into Jones and Upchurch Real Estate, and was also charged with break-ins at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Clinic, Lee’s Body Shop and Firestone.

Howard’s previous record included a 2004 residential burglary charge, which was dropped to misdemeanor trespassing when witness identification conflicted and a grand jury found that not enough evidence existed to indict. An August 2005 charge for business burglary and possession of burglary tools was dropped to misdemeanor malicious mischief.

The increase in burglaries notwithstanding, Moffett said he was not surprised by the 2006 crime figures.

&#8220Our overall numbers have gone down,” he said. &#8220You’ll see a substantial decrease in overall felonies. I think our stats are good. Obviously, we hope they get better.”

Homicides dropped by four last year, in which Vicksburg police made an arrest in one case and continue to investigate another. Six homicides were recorded in 2005.

In the unsolved homicide, police have said they are waiting on results from forensic tests before making an arrest in the Nov. 26 shooting death of Amanda Yevette DeVaul, 20, at her home at 807 Second North St.

In the other case, James Morris, 16, was arrested July 23 about two hours after police said he shot and killed Greg Jones, 29, 105 Quinola Lane, in front of an apartment building in Kings, off North Washington Street.

Morris is free on $100,000 bond pending grand jury deliberations.

In Warren County, four homicides were recorded in 2006 and arrests were made in two. No homicides had been recorded in 2005.

&#8220I am alarmed at the number, but they are all unrelated,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. &#8220I’d be more upset if they all happened in a single neighborhood.”

Cases without arrests are the Jan. 15 beating death of Elizabeth Williams, 72, 1508 Greenhill Road, and the June 2 or 3 beating death of Glen Baggett, 49, 594 Wildwood Drive, Greenville.

In the Baggett case, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has jurisdiction because his body was discovered on a state right-of-way, a rest stop on Interstate 20 near Vicksburg. That agency and Pace continue to share few specifics on the investigation.

The same is also true for the Williams case.

&#8220As with any open case, there are specifics I cannot discuss,” Pace said. &#8220With a pending case, especially a homicide, it’s frustrating when we are not able to charge those responsible immediately. But in this particular case, we are confident that those responsible will be brought to justice.”

In the cases in which arrests were made, David Wayne Welch, 40, 310 Massey Road, is in the Warren County Jail awaiting trial for the April 21 shooting death of Cetric Ladelle Griffin, 24.

A Warren County grand jury in October declined to indict Michael Derrel Price, 25, 272 Ironwood Drive, for manslaughter in the June 11 shooting death of his cousin, Derrick Deon Collins, 21, 1692 Standard Hill Road.

Otherwise, Pace said, crime stats for Warren County were consistent with figures from 2005.

&#8220Statistically, nothing really changed,” he said. &#8220Our burglaries have been down two years in a row.”

More than 130 burglaries were reported to the sheriff’s department last year, compared to 143 in 2005.

MAJOR CRIME STATS

VICKSBURG

2006

Homicide 2

Rape 14

Robbery 49

Aggravated assault 53

Burglary 466

Larceny 911

Auto theft 75

2005

Homicide 6

Rape 33

Robbery 64

Aggravated assaul 49

Burglary 411

Larceny 998

Auto theft 57

WARREN COUNTY

2006

Homicide 4

Rape 2

Robbery 2

Aggravated assault 10

Burglary 131

Larceny 190

Auto theft 40

2005

Homicide 0

Rape 3

Robbery 0

Aggravated assault 5

Burglary 143

Larceny 198

Auto theft 25