3 women sought over fight video
Published 9:15 pm Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Brookhaven police are seeking the public’s help to locate a trio of women seen in a video that shows them fighting at the Cloverdale apartments Monday night, even though witnesses said there was no fight.
Chief Kenneth Collins said warrants will be issued for the arrests of Latava McNair, Rosetta Maxwell and Jacinda Parker, who are facing charges of disturbing the peace, if they don’t surrender voluntarily to police.
Three others were arrested on similar charges Tuesday for their involvement in the fight. Jasmine Maxwell, 22, and Terisha McNair, 21, both of 900 Williams St., and Traneshia McNair, 18, of 1048 Monticello St. were charged with disturbing the peace.
Collins said officers responded to a disturbance call at Cloverdale where individuals told them no one was fighting.
“Later that night, we saw a disturbing video of a fight that had taken place at the apartments,” Collins posted on Facebook. “We have identified and arrested Jasmine Maxwell, Terisha McNair and Traneshia McNair for their involvement in the altercation. We are working with the Brookhaven Housing Authority in seeking the evictions of persons involved who reside in the Cloverdale apartments.”
Though the charge is considered minor, Collins doesn’t want to downplay the seriousness of the incident.
“They were recording it (the fight) and nobody took time to call law enforcement and you’ve got one side acting like didn’t anything happen,” Collins told The Daily Leader Wednesday. “If you let that go, it leads to somebody getting shot, or somebody getting cut, or somebody getting stabbed. It escalates. You’ve got to stay on top of stuff like that. The summer hasn’t even got here yet. You can’t allow stuff to take place like that.”
The fight allegedly took place at Cloverdale, which is part of the Brookhaven Housing Authority.
“Public housing is a safe and affordable place for people to live and you’ve got a lot of hardworking, honest people that live there and they shouldn’t have to deal with that type of stuff,” Collins said.
The police chief said officers face similar issues in the Brignall area, around Ellis and Amite roads, where adults are becoming involved in kids’ altercations.
“You can’t allow kids to come from everywhere and sit in your yard when you know there is a problem,” he said. “You can’t let them sit in your yard and pick with other kids. You have to be wise as adults to see this kind of stuff going on, tell them to go home. You can’t let them sit in your yard and yell and holler and wait for people to come by to start stuff. They’ve got their own homes that they live in.
“You as an adult, you can’t let your house just be a hang-out. As grown people, we need to try work together to stop people from fighting, rather than escalate it and join in.”
He said officers ask individuals to clear the area a few times before making an arrest.
“I have seen too many deaths and too many senseless acts of violence to allow this to continue in our city,” he said. “We will, to the best of our ability, try to keep everyone safe, because at this point, there is no more talking to these individuals. Actions speak louder than words.”
Anyone with information about a crime is asked to call Brookhaven Police Department at 601-833-2424, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 601-833-5231 or CrimeStoppers at 601-823-0150. Tips leading to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward up to $1,000.