“Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”

An odd-ball series of crimes in five or more north Mississippi counties required attention from several law enforcement agencies during the first two weeks of March.

Two individuals are in custody on a variety of felony charges. Apparently, the two individuals know one another, but it is unclear whether they were working together. One may simply have been a victim of the other. The known facts raise questions about whether the two miscreants were dim-witted, chemically impaired or just somehow lacked the skills required for a successful life in crime.

The twisted tale goes like this:

Kenneth Bogue

Thursday, March 2, Marshall County

On Thursday, March 2, Kenneth Bogue, Jr. appeared before Third District Circuit Court Judge Kent Smith in Holly Springs, Marshall County. Bogue had been convicted in Judge Smith’s court at an earlier date, and the purpose of the March 2 hearing was for sentencing.

• Judge Smith sentenced Bogue to 20 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC).
• But, then Smith suspended the sentence, allowing Bogue a form of “house arrest” that gave Bogue limited freedom of movement while wearing an electronic tracking bracelet on his ankle.
• The deal was that if Bogue got in trouble, the court would then go ahead and remand him to DOC for his 20 year sentence.
• A DOC officer locked the tracking bracelet on Bogue’s leg and released him near the Love’s Truck Stop in Holly Springs that same afternoon.

A few hours later – 6:30 p.m, March 2, Union, Panola Counties

• A 2012 Freightliner truck tractor was stolen from where its owner had parked it near the Walmart in Holly Springs.
• Later still, on the same March 2, the same Freightliner truck tractor was seen at some storage units in Etta in Union County. Someone had broken into the storage units. Union County deputies, when they reviewed the security video at the Etta facility, spotted the Freightliner on the video.
• Law enforcement officers had begun to suspect Bogue had stolen the truck, but did not know for sure at that point. Data from the tracking bracelet showed Bogue had gone to Batesville in Panola County.
• It was later learned that Bogue had cut the tracking bracelet from his leg. It was found in a road ditch in Panola County.

It was, indeed, Bogue driving the Freightliner spotted in Etta, and:

• A short distance from Etta, near Highway 349 and Highway 30, Bogue spotted an empty 48-foot 2019 Great Dane flatbed trailer sitting near the road.
• He hooked the flatbed to the stolen Freightliner and stole the Great Dane trailer, too.

One might say Bogue was on a  pretty good roll for a small-time player in the tricky game of larceny.

Friday night, March 3, Benton County

The next night, Friday March 3, law officers spotted the Great Dane trailer parked at Christy’s Truck Stop in Hickory Flat in Benton County. They recovered the trailer.

Tuesday, March 7, Union County

Four days later, Tuesday March 7, someone spotted a Freightliner truck tractor on a side road near the Myrtle-Poolville Road. It was stuck in the mud and out of fuel.

Tindall McCammon

Wednesday March 8, Union County

The next day, Wednesday March 8, a Union County deputy spied a blue Toyota pickup with an expired license tag. The deputy made a traffic stop. The driver of the pickup was Tindall McCammon, age 51.

• The deputy discovered McCammon was in possession of a quantity of methamphetamine, and may have been impaired.
• He also had in his possession a handgun, and was a convicted felon.
• McCammon was arrested and booked into the Union County jail.

A female passenger was with McCammon when he was stopped. The deputy determined that she was not impaired, so allowed her, with McCammon’s permission, to leave with the blue Toyota pickup. A warrant was secured for a search of McCammon’s home. A much larger amount of methamphetamine was found at the home, enough that McCammon faces charges of trafficking, as well as simple possession.

Thursday, March 9, Tippah County

The Union County Sheriff’s office got a call the next morning, Thursday, March 9, saying that Bogue was at McCammon’s residence at 1152 County Road 50. The report said Bogue was now driving McCammon’s blue Toyota pickup and that he was loading items, including an all-terrain vehicle, onto a trailer. This while McCammon himself was locked snugly away in the Union County Jail.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards

A number of officers, including Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards, sped to the McCammon residence on County Road 50. Edwards spotted Bogue in McCammon’s pickup and gave pursuit. It was raining heavily, and Bogue drove at high speed through a construction site, trying to evade Edwards. When the sheriff slowed up to avoid the possibility of injuring a construction worker, he lost sight of the blue pickup. Edwards and other officers continued searching for Bogue on several roads in that part of the county.

Edwards spotted Bogue again on Highway 2 headed toward Blue Mountain in Tippah County. The sheriff pursued Bogue east on Highway 2 and met a westbound Mississippi Highway patrolman, who turned around and followed Edwards in the pursuit.  Tippah County sheriff’s officers also joined the pursuit.

Finally, Bogue abandoned the Toyota pickup near the Hell Creek Wildlife Management area and fled on foot. Officers of  the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks joined the search. Bogue was found cowering in the weeds a few hundred feet from the Toyota pickup and was arrested by Sheriff Edwards.

In the Jailhouse Now

As fortune would have it, Circuit Judge Kent Smith was holding court at the Union County Courthouse in New Albany that week. It was therefore convenient for the sheriff to march Bogue before Judge Smith in New Albany. Smith immediately remanded Bogue to the Mississippi Department of Corrections to begin serving the 20-years prison term to which Smith had sentenced him on March 2.

McCammon will face charges for drug trafficking and felon in possession of a firearm.

As for Bogue, he could face grand larceny charges for stealing the Freightliner, the flatbed trailer, McCammon’s Toyota pickup; that’s up to the District Attorney and a grand jury. First, of course, is that twenty years he owes Judge Smith.

Several thousand dollars worth of meth is off the streets, and two veterans of the criminal justice system have stumbled into jail yet again.

Sheriff Edwards, reflecting on the events involving Bogue and McCammon, recalled a favorite quote from John Wayne: “Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”