By By William F. West / community editor
Nov. 14, 2002
Law enforcement officers sometimes laugh off "dumb crime" but the arrest of two people this week at Howard Johnson's in Meridian is one for the books.
The pair was arrested on drug charges in the midst of the annual Mississippi Sheriffs Association's winter conference.
Larry Gene Brumley, 51, of 75 Banks Lane, Savannah, Tenn., was charged Tuesday with felony possession of more than an ounce of marijuana.
Wanda Jean Brumley, 44, of the same address, was charged with misdemeanor possession of Xanax, a sedative used to treat anxiety disorders.
He was released on $5,000 bond; she was released on $500 bond.
Maj. Ward Calhoun of the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department said the arrests occurred after conference attendees told him and an East Mississippi Drug Task Force agent that a nearby hallway reeked of marijuana.
Sheriff Billy Sollie said the alleged offense ranks "sub-zero" on a 1-to-10 scale of dumb crime.
Calhoun said he asked Larry Brumley about his apparent failure to notice both the hotel marquee announcing the conference and the presence of patrol cars in the parking lot.
Calhoun said the two people arrested are employed by a company that transfers mobile homes from manufacturers to retailers. They were reportedly traveling through Meridian on their way to Louisiana.