A former Jones County Sheriff’s Office auxiliary deputy was given a bond of $10,000 in Jones County Justice Court after being arrested on Tuesday on a charge of robbery.
Robert Dreading was picked up by Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agents on Tuesday afternoon. Jones County Assistant District Attorney J. Ronald Parrish said, “This man has been primarily targeting Hispanics, and after they would be pulled over and in some cases arrested, their money would be stolen, and he would appropriate it to his own use.”
Parrish said an investigation had been going on into the allegations against Dreading for around six months.
Jones County Sheriff Larry Dykes said, “I’ve been knowing about this since not long after it happened. We started an investigation of our own before turning it over to the MBI. I don’t uphold any wrongdoing in the sheriff’s office.”
Dykes said he supports the district attorney’s office pursuing this case to the fullest extent, and if Dreading is convicted, he should not get any special treatment in sentencing.
Parrish said, “What I really want people to know is that one of the things that enabled us to catch this man is honest, good law enforcement people giving us information that this kind of activity was going on. This man is in a distinct minority, and most of the people are doing a real good job with low wages and are dedicated to what they’re doing.”
Parrish said the MBI is not finished looking into the matter, and Dreading could be facing more charges in the future.
“We hope people will have confidence in law enforcement because they should,” Parrish said. “If they have any information that they think we need to know, please don’t hesitate to do that because this is an aberration and not the rule.”
Dykes said, “It’s just bad business when this happens in law enforcement. An officer of the law is not above the law.”
According to Parrish, the maximum sentence on this charge is 15 years in prison.
Local News
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Photo/Brandon Fincher
JCSO auxiliary deputy arrested for robbery
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