WANTED: The Hattiesburg Police Department is seeking information in relation to two ongoing investigations.
On Tuesday, Feb. 8, the police department issued a statement asking for the public’s help in locating individual(s) involved in an ongoing grand larceny investigation. The investigation stems from a Jan. 9, 2022 incident on Barracuda Drive where a trailer and commercial grill were stolen by individual(s) in a red Nissan truck.
The truck has a black front Bull Bar, chrome side step rails, and rails inside the truck bed for a bed cover.
The second investigation is in relation to the Feb. 3, 2022 auto burglary from a residence on Augusta Court East. Individual(s) entered an unlocked Dodge Ram and stole eight championship rings. The rings include: one Oak Grove 2020 championship ring, two Picayune High School rings and five PRCC National Championship rings. The name “Mitchell” is engraved on all rings.
Anyone with any information pertaining to these two investigations should contact the Hattiesburg Police Department or Metro Crime Stoppers at 601-582-STOP.
WANTED: The Forrest County Sheriff’s Office is seeking public assistance to locate Jacob Iverson Willis, 23, of Hattiesburg. Willis is wanted in an ongoing forgery investigation.
The sheriff’s office reported that Willis allegedly took checks from a Forrest County trucking company and changed the payee from a local tire company to himself. A teller at Trustmark bank questioned Willis at the bank, prompting him to flee.
Anyone with any information should contact the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office at 601-544-7800 or call the Metro Crime Stoppers at 601-582-STOP. The Crime Stoppers’ email is crimestopperlady@comcast.net. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to p3tips.com.
SCAM: The Hattiesburg Police Department issued a statement on Tuesday, Feb. 8 about an ongoing telephone scam targeting local businesses.
An individuals claiming to be the owner of a business in the 6500 block of Hwy 49 reportedly called employees of the business and instructed them to transfer money using Remitly, a money transfer service. The caller also allegedly requested that employees take company money to create a Bitcoin account that would be used to pay for deliveries.
The same scam was reported by employees at a business in the 1800 block of Broadway Drive.
Any business or employee that receives similar phone calls should report the calls to their manager or supervisors. The police department warns the public to not transfer funds of any kind to unknown individuals and to not respond to numbers they do not recognize.
Reported numbers previously used by the caller were listed as Mexico numbers and U.S. based numbers that include:
• 725-605-0659
• 615-763-5798
• 678-435-9604.
