Quiet holiday for local law enforcement

Local police and state troopers saw little excitement over the Fourth of July holiday period, with no fatalities or felony arrests to report.

Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop G — which covers Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Webster and Winston counties — reported no felony arrests or fatal collisions during the holiday enforcement period, which began Wednesday, July 3, at 12:01 a.m. and ended Thursday, July 4, at midnight.

Troop G reported a grand total of two collisions with no injuries. Neither of the crashes were alcohol related.

In total, Troop G made seven DUI arrests, issued 20 seat belt violations and logged four motorist assists over the holiday period.

All of Troop G's DUI arrests were made on Thursday.

Starkville police also saw a relatively uneventful holiday as the city celebrated Independence Day.

SPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Brandon Lovelady said there were no violent incidents.

Lovelady said from Wednesday morning until 10 a.m. Friday, SPD officers issued over 82 citations, filed 25 reports and received 329 calls for service. He went on to say 107 of the calls for service were proactive security checks.

During this time, SPD also arrested three on misdemeanor warrants and another for domestic violence - simple assault.

According to Oktibbeha County Jail records, Sheriff's Deputies made two misdemeanor arrests, one being a DUI first offense with no insurance, while the other arrest was for misdemeanor public drunk.

Jail records also show one of the DUI arrests made by MHP was in Oktibbeha County on Thursday.

Over the statewide holiday enforcement period, MHP issued 3,300 citations with 43 DUI arrests.

Troopers investigated a total of 63 crashes, including one fatality and nine injuries on state, federal highways, and interstate systems.

The single fatality reported over the holiday period occurred in Clark County on Wednesday.

(Photos by Ryan Phillips, SDN)