CARMEN K. SISSON
A woman was arrested Tuesday in connection with a rash of burglaries which have plagued the New Hope area over the past few weeks.
Crystal Denise Brown, 23, of 1306 Blackjack Road in Starkville, was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hardee’s in Starkville and charged with possession of stolen property. She is being held at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
Lowndes County Chief Deputy Greg Wright told WCBI-TV that the arrest is the first of what will probably be several in connection with robberies in the area.
But Oswalt Road resident Katie Burchfield said this morning that Brown’s arrest doesn’t reassure her, because she is still hearing reports of incidents that are a little too close to home.
Though her house hasn’t been burglarized — a fact she attributes to a well-lit yard and her two dogs — she said her brother and sister-in-law saw someone they believe was attempting to break into their neighbor’s home Tuesday night on Petersburg Road in New Hope. When they saw a car backing up to the house, they walked outside and the car drove away. They believe they spooked the possible burglar, she said.
Burchfield is a member of the Columbus Facebook Watch Group, a citizen-led initiative that’s utilizing social media to connect local residents with one another and help them communicate information about suspicious activities and stay informed about crime in the area.
She said the amount of Facebook posts about break-ins and suspicious activity around town and in her neighborhood doesn’t make her feel safer.
“There’s not just one person breaking into houses right now. Probably with all the publicity, it’s encouraged other people to break in,” Burchfield said.
Read complete article at the Starkville Dispatch.
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