On Friday, August 30, 2019, an alert citizen in the Woodlawn neighborhood noticed a suspicious vehicle with around 8:00 pm driving very slowly so they called the Oxford Police Department.
Officers arrived on scene and conducted a traffic stop on the truck. Inside of the vehicle they found Shaun Whitfield (45 of Senatobia, Mississippi) and Sheila Ware (39 of Sardis, Mississippi).
While officers were out with the truck a resident in the neighborhood called 911 to report that his house had been burglarized. The victim relayed through dispatch what all he was missing which was visible in plain sight in the truck.
Both Whitfield and Ware were arrested and transported to the Lafayette County Detention Center for residential burglary and possession of burglary tools. All stolen items were returned to the owner.
Upon further investigation, officers were able to identify a camping site at the Wall Doxey State Park that Whitfield and Ware were staying at.
Law enforcement officers with the Oxford Police Department, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, and the Panola County Sheriff’s Office eventually got involved due to stolen items from multiple jurisdictions were discovered at this camp site.
Whitfield and Ware were both given a bond of $50,000 by a Justice Court Judge. Both individuals have holds on them for the Panola County Sheriff’s Department and Whitfield has a hold for multiple felony warrants in other jurisdictions.
Interim Chief Jeff McCutchen said, “This is why we preach, if you see something, say something. You never know what it may lead to.”
