For the past several weeks, the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office has been investigating a rash of crimes in Washington Parish and neighboring Tangipahoa Parish and Walthall and Pearl River counties in Mississippi. Investigators discovered a group of Washington Parish residents who were committing the crimes.

Those arrested include:

• Kyle Wayne Hamm, 25, who resides on Louisiana Highway 16 in Franklinton and was charged with burglary of a residence on Highway 38 in Washington Parish.

• Christopher Magee, 29, who resides on Wayne Young Road in Franklinton and was charged with theft of an air-conditioner unit from the Humane Society on Louisiana Highway 1055.

• Melvin Lowe, 35, who resides on Ben Williams Road in Franklinton and was charged with possession of stolen property. More warrants for Lowe are anticipated from both Washington and Tangipahoa parishes.

• Patrick Spencer, 28, who resides on J. P. Alford Road in Mt. Hermon and was charged with burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

• Roderick Jones, 23, who resides on Old Columbia Road north of Franklinton, and Bryant Bickham, 23, who resides on Holland Brock Road in Mt. Hermon. Both were arrested on warrants from Tangipahoa Parish and charged with home invasion.

• Earnest Lester III, 31, who resides on Mt. Pisgah Road in Mt. Hermon and was charged with theft of an air-conditioning unit in the Mt. Hermon area.

• David Mulina, 32, who resides on Peterson Drive in Mt. Hermon and was charged with burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

• Sharmon McNabb, 36, who resides on Old Creek Road in Picayune, Miss., and Steven Beal, 25, who resides on Louisiana Highway 21 in Bush. Both were arrested and charged with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling. In addition, Beal was arrested and charged with a Highway 21 burglary.

• Stacy Xedos, 37, who resides on Choctaw Road in Bogalusa and was charged with a Louisiana Highway 10 theft of more than $1,500 worth of jewelry.

• Bridget Roach, 29, who resides on Beck Graves Road in Bogalusa, and Lane Moore, 27, who resides on Wildwood Drive in Bogalusa. Both were arrested and charged with a theft that occurred on Knap Thomas Road.

• Kenneth Mixon, 28, who resides on Knight Road in Franklinton and has warrants pending for theft by fraud from Capital One Bank and 26 counts of forgery.

In addition to the arrests, warrants have been issued for Conner Sullivan, who resides on Highway 10 in Franklinton, for principle to burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

Magee is currently in jail in Walthall County, Miss., and will be re-arrested and placed in the Washington Parish Jail when released by Walthall County. In addition to Magee, Washington Parish investigators identified other subjects who are directly tied to burglaries and thefts in Walthall County. More arrests should be forthcoming.

McNabb and Beal were also implicated in a burglary in Pearl River County.

Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal complimented his investigators on a job well done.

“Our investigators have worked long and hard to solve these crimes against the citizens of Washington Parish and surrounding areas. I congratulate them for taking so many of our criminals out of the community and putting them in jail. This is not the end of our investigation into criminal activity in our parish. The investigation will continue and more arrests are forthcoming. Crimes like these are usually related to drugs. Criminals steal from honest, hard-working citizens and sell stolen items for pennies on the dollar to support their drug activities. This will not be tolerated as long as I am your sheriff.”

Seal had words specifically for the criminal element in Washington Parish.

“Don’t think for one minute that we will slow up in our effort to identify you, to arrest you and to place you in jail where you belong,” Seal said. “You are a menace to the good citizens of Washington Parish, and your criminal behavior will not be tolerated. Our jail may be full, but there is always room for one more.”