Rash of burglaries probed

A recent rash of business and residential burglaries and thefts of vehicles is under investigation by the Holly Springs Police Department, according to chief Grant Glover.

He urged vehicle owners to remove firearms from their vehicles at night.

Several burglaries of GPS related equipment from Love’s Travel Center are being investigated, he said.

On Oct. 13, a male subject entered the travel center, went behind the counter and took a GPS unit valued at $900, he said. The subject returned Oct. 20 and took another GPS unit and electronic devices valued at $767. Then on Oct. 21, the suspect entered the store and took similar merchandise valued at $2,569, the chief said.

Officers were alerted by Love’s management that the suspect in the thefts was parked in front of Arby’s restaurant.

“So, I immediately called officers on shift and arrested the suspect at 11:30 a.m., Glover said.

Lawrence Kennedy, 50, of the Memphis, Tenn., area was placed in custody and charged with felony shoplifting. Kennedy went before municipal judge Cornelia Fondren in municipal court and was placed under a $10,000 bond. Glover said Kennedy remained in custody at the Marshall County jail Tuesday.

Suspects are always considered innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, Glover said.

In another incident at Love’s Oct. 19 at 9:29 a.m. Officers were dispatched in reference to a subject going behind the counter and stealing two GPS units valued at $1,198, Glover said.

Surveillance video of the 18wheeler rig turned up DOT registration on the truck and gas receipts were also called up.

The company owning the rig was called in Michigan and the driver was rerouted to the Flying J on Bethyl Road in Olive Branch where officers from Holly Springs and Olive Branch converged on the scene.

Glover said the driver noticed patrol cars and fled in the truck to the Memphis, Tenn., area where Memphis PD did a traffic stop and took the subject into custody. The suspect remained in detention at 201 Poplar Avenue awaiting extradition proceedings back to Holly Springs.

Social media threat

Officers were dispatched to all public and private schools Monday regarding a threat on social media, Glover said.

Officers were placed at all schools in the city.

Glover said Homeland Security investigated the source of the threat and traced the post to an address outside the city limits but in the school district.

Holly Springs officers and Marshall County deputies went to the address and spoke to the grandparents of a male minor who was at home sick.

Glover said the grandparents were given a statement form and charges will be looked at when the child gets better.

Glover said the school district practiced a drill at the school last week – a semi-lock down drill – that could have triggered a response from the child. Glover warned that anyone who posts anything on social media that is deemed a threat are accountable to law enforcement.