A 28-year-old woman is no longer employed with the Newton Police Department and Newton County 911 Dispatch after she was accused of stealing a vehicle from a residence near Lawrence on Nov. 3.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation identified the suspect as Brandy Denise Robinson, 28, of Lawrence. She has cbeen charged with motor vehicle, taking. She was released on a $10,000 bond after an arraignment on Nov. 4, according to Newton County Justice Court records.
MBI did not release a formal statement on the incident. Newton County Sheriff Joedy Pennington said he could not comment on the investigation as it was turned over to MBI. Following an open records request, the Newton County Appeal received an MBI incident report regarding the case.
READ THE REPORT HERE
The report indicates the incident occurred Nov. 2 at 11:45 p.m., but the location of the incident was redacted.
The report states Newton County Dispatch received a 911 call about a vehicle being taken from a residence in Lawrence. The owner’s name and address was redacted on the report.
“The vehicle was occupied by Brandy Robinson at the time of the attempted theft/taking,” the report stated. “Brandy Robinson was in the driver’s seat of the vehicle at the time of the taking of the vehicle.”
The report indicated the owner, whose name was not provided in the report, “was able to get Brandy Robinson to stop before leaving the residence and the owner held Brandy Robinson at gunpoint until law enforcement could arrive and take her into custody.”
The incident report listed the father’s name of the suspect, but MBI redacted the information from the copy of the report provided to the Appeal.
The report also states the suspect was “in possession of a City of Lake Police Department firearm at the time of her arrest.” The report alleges that she “brandished” the Lake Police Department firearm “in an attempt to flee the residence from which she was taking/stealing the vehicle.”
Appeal seeking additional information
The Newton County Appeal has requested some of the information redacted from the report, as well as other details of the incident.
Mississippi State Code Section 25-61-3 defines what must be provided in an incident report. It states than an incident report must contain “at a minimum, name and identification of each person charged with or arrested for the alleged offense, the time, date and location of the alleged offense, and the property involved, to the extent this information is known.”
The report redacted information the location of the alleged offense and where the arrest took place. The report also does not contain a description of the vehicle that was allegedly stolen by the suspect.
When asked why the report either redacted or did not include this information, staff officer R.E. Wentworth of the Mississippi State Department of Public Safety Legal Department stated the following via email on Nov. 19:
“This is an open criminal case. The information you received is the information approved for release. We will not be releasing additional information that might compromise the case or any victim. This public records request is concluded.”
After the newspaper responded to Wentworth’s email, he notified the Newton County Appeal that DPS General Counsel Jordan McMichael “will be back in the office Monday, November 22, 2021. She is over Public Records Requests and will respond to you.”
A response had not been received by the time the newspaper went to press on an early Monday deadline due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Robinson relieved of duties
At the time of the Nov. 2 incident, Robinson was employed with the Newton Police Department as an uncertified police officer, and Newton County Dispatch as a 911 dispatcher.
County Administrator Steve Seale said that Robinson was terminated from her position on Nov. 3.
The Newton Board of Mayor and Aldermen terminated Robinson during a regular meeting on Nov. 16. Her termination was not on the agenda, but after a nearly one-hour executive session with Police Chief Randy Patrick, the board amended the agenda to fire her and approved her termination unanimously.
Due to early deadlines, The Newton County Appeal was not able to contact Lake officials regarding the ownership and use of the Lake Police Department firearm reportedly used in this incident.
While the charge against Robinson is felony, it was filed by the victim, not by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department, which was initially called to the scene, or by MBI, which took over the investigation, according to Sgt. Jameka Moore, public affairs officer for Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop H.
“MBI is not filing the charges against the suspect. They were filed by the victim,” Moore said in a phone interview Nov. 5. “MBI does not have a comment on the investigation.”
Moore indicated the Newton County Appeal would need to make a public records request to receive a copy of their incident report. The Appeal did so and received the redacted copy of the incident report.
Wentworth also responded to the request stating the arrest report and investigation records cannot be released at this time.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. §25-61-12(2)(a) and Miss. Code Ann. §25-61-3(f) investigative reports are not subject to disclosure. Therefore, we cannot provide the records,” his email stated Nov. 18.
According to Newton County Justice Court records, Robinson has not had a preliminary hearing in Justice Court. The next preliminary hearing date will be in December, but has not been finalized at this time.
Stay with the Newton County Appeal as this story develops.
