CRIME * From Staff Reports

Two Vicksburg men were arrested this morning in a robbery reported at a North Frontage Road motel, police said.

John C. Ferguson, 34, 1303 Harrison St., was charged with robbery, and Charles Anthony Meekins, 33, 622 Adams St., was charged with robbery and sexual battery.

Ferguson and Meekins were picked up at 4:28 at Coccaros Alley and Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg Police Lt. Bobby Stewart said.

A robbery had been reported 20 minutes earlier at the Deluxe Inn on North Frontage Road between Indiana Avenue and Old Highway 27.

The victim told police she was sexually assaulted and $450, a cell phone and a credit card were taken.

Stewart said the two men were being held at the Vicksburg Police Department without bond pending an initial appearance in Vicksburg Municipal Court this afternoon.

Three vehicles stolen in Vicksburg, Warren

Three vehicles were reported stolen in the city and county during the weekend, city and county officials said.

At 8:25 Friday, a red 2005 Chevrolet Aveo was missing from the 100 block of Alcorn Drive. A purse valued at $50 was inside the car that carried a personalized tag number of ERNIEV.

Also Friday, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a blue 1992 Mitsubishi Galant missing from U.S. 61 North and North Washington Street. The victim said she left the vehicle there after it broke down on Feb. 29.

At 12:57 p.m. Saturday, a 1997 Nissan Sentra was reported stolen from the parking lot of the Smoke Break at Cherry and Clay streets. The victim said he had gone inside the store to pay for gas and left the keys in the vehicle with a Mississippi tag of 680SPG.

Equipment, vehicles added to multistate theft booty

About $40,000 more in vehicles and lawn equipment have been recovered in a multistate theft ring that now has stretched to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said this morning that Detectives Jeff Crevitt and Mike Traxler met with Harrison County deputies Friday night to retrieve a 2001 Chevrolet pickup, a 16-foot, tandem-axle trailer, two riding lawn mowers and a Honda 4-wheeler that had been missing since November and December.

The 4-wheeler had been taken from a home in the 2300 block of Birdsong Road in north Warren County, and the other items were reported missing from Cook Tractor on U.S. 80 on Dec. 10.

No arrests were made in Harrison County, Pace said, because officers don’t believe the occupant of the house where the goods were confiscated was involved in the thefts.

The recoveries came weeks after the Warren County Sheriff’s Office worked with several other law enforcement agencies to break up what was believed to be a theft ring involving the stealing of outdoor equipment, recreational vehicles and other vehicles from Warren and Hinds county businesses and residences and selling the goods in Tensas and Madison parishes in Louisiana.

Seven people have been arrested.