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Men Busted For Stealing Dresses To Wear Themselves; Two Nearly Died In Fiery Flomaton Wreck
August 4, 2009
Two Escambia County men and two women have been busted for stealing dresses to use in a nightclub drag performance. Two of the men were survivors of a fiery February crash in Flomaton that killed two other men on the way back from a cross-dressing drag performance in Montgomery.
Males Maurice Tremane Williams, 18, and Richard Jesse Beverly II, 19, and female Kendrick Demetris Meshea Barren, 21, were arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and are facing charges of burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief. A fourth suspect is being charged as well, but investigators have not released the person’s identity because they are currently cooperating and helping to clear several burglaries.
Beginning in June, the sheriff’s department said 19 hair and nail salons were targeted by the four who would break out the front window, enter the store and target the cash register. A number of bridal stores were also targeted, with up to 350 dresses stolen. In all, investigators believe the suspects were involved in the burglaries of about 30 businesses.
Last week, Escambia investigators recovered 96 formal and wedding dresses valued at $30,000 from Barren and Willams’ apartment, the sheriff’s department said. Investigators said they were stealing the dresses to perform in a cross-dressing drag show at a downtown nightclub. Investigator Joanna Wilson estimated that between 200 and 250 dresses could still be recovered as the investigation continues.
On June 3, Jim’s Computers in Ensley was targeted by the suspects, according to the sheriff’s department. Video surveillance from the store captured the suspects as they targeted another store in the same strip shopping center on June 28. The Pensacola Police Department and Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office were able to work with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department to identify the suspects.
On February 8 of this year, Williams and Beverly were backseat passengers in fiery single vehicle crash in Flomaton. The driver of the vehicle failed to stop at the end of Highway 113, striking a large billboard support at the corner of Rollin’s Tires in excess of 55 mph. The two front seat passengers were unable to escape the burning vehicle and perished in the burning car. Williams, Beverly and Demontray Woodward were pulled from the back of the burning car by a passerby, Flomaton Police dispatcher Donna Filmore.
Witnesses said that the three that survived the accident were dressed at least partially in drag at the time of the crash, reportedly returning from a drag show at a Montgomery, Ala., nightclub. Click here to read the February NorthEscambia.com coverage of the wreck.
Pictured top: Booking photos of three burglary suspects from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. Pictured bottom inset: Two of the men arrested were involved in this fiery crash that killed two other people in Flomaton back in February. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
32 Responses to “Men Busted For Stealing Dresses To Wear Themselves; Two Nearly Died In Fiery Flomaton Wreck”
It is funny how we seem to forget that the Scriptures plainly state that whoever steals then he must make restitution 2 or 3 fold depending on what is stolen.
Since no one ever died of hard work, why not let these thieves work off their $30,000 debt to those they stole from and for court costs etc…
After the enormous effort of paying back their debt to society they would be convinced that stealing is wrong.
They would then realize what all good citizens know that “crime does not pay”
who cares???????? this is just pure crazy to even discuss people
THE WORD OF STATES THAT WE HAVE ALL SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD. LETS NOT POINT FINGERS AT ONE ANOTHER BUT PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. I AM STRAIGHT. I AM A CHILD OF GOD. I HAVE GAY RELATIVES. I LOVE THEM DEARLY. BUT IF WE DON’T REPENT FROM OUR SINS AND RECIEVE JESUS CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOR WE WILL ALL END UP IN THE LAKE OF FIRE WITH SATAN AND HIS ANGELS. IT’S A CHOICE THAT WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE. THE WORD OF GOD SAYS “I SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, CHOOSE LIFE. BUT IF U ARE NOT A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER U HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE. GOD WILL NOT SEND YOU TO HELL YOUR SINS WILL. HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN US FREEWILL. THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR GAYS THIS IS FOR ALL OF US. ADULTERERS,DRUNKARDS , IDOLATERS, LIARS, FORNICATORS AND SUCH. I ASK U “CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM U SHALL SERVE.
How many straight people do you know that steal, cross dress and do drag shows.
Attention William you need to add to your list of rules to make comments; please stay on subject! This article is about the fact that these people stole 30,000.00 dollars worth of dresses….period!!!!!! If someone wants to rant about alternative life styles, do an article on that. If some one has something to say about whether those life styles are right or wrong ,do that, but please one at a time!
I was addressing the issue at hand.I never indicated that the people were Gay.My opinion is thier life is headed in the wrong direction and they need to make a change.I dont want anyone feelings hurt or to make it seem as if i want to judge.That is not for me to do only God can.We all know the difference in what is wrong and right.We all have made bad choices in life and have regreted those made.Too Blue and Anonymous,those are your choices in life on how you live.Sometimes you cant help who you love but if you believe in the Bible,we all know homosexuality is wrong.I agree with William also, it never stated in the article anyone was Gay.People assume bc of the issue with the dresses.My point was men do not wear dresses and they were wrong for stealing. No wearing a dress does not make a bad person but it doesnt show or make you a MAN either. That is what GOD intended for you to be..My opinion is seeing young men and women do something positive in life while they still have a chance.They are blessed in my eyes..God saved thier lives once and i know he can do again.So again,it is everyone choice on who they want to be with or what they do in thier life.Just try to do whats right, and live right.
being gay has everything to do with sexual preference, that is the definition, if you are not having sex than you are just friends. being gay is a behavior, nothing to do with how you are wired or being born gay, it is a choice, a wrong choice, and the Bible does condemn it, explicitly.
We need to push the focus of the comments back to the subjects in the story, which include theft, cross-dressing and drag shows. The article does not state anything about homosexuality nor does it say that anyone in the article is homosexual. — William, Admin
It is sad that the two young men died in february and that there soul will be eternally lost. The society that we live in a human life doesn’t mean much to most people. There behavior is wrong, homosexuallity is an abomination before GOD and if you live this type of life then guess what when you die your soul will rest forever in hell! If you don’t believe me then die a practicing lesbian or homosexual and see firsthand for youself. It is not natural for two men or two women to be in a relationship. Even animals know this, how many animals of the same sex do you see having sex? These guys didn’t learn anything from that tragic event in february if so then there lives would be change. In this wicked society everything is socially exceptable and i don’t agree with homosexuality one bit. Please repent and give your life to JESUS before it is to late! Don’t listen to these people who say being a homosexual is okay because it is not. It goes against the BIBLE and it is wrong! I know people who were gay and they repented and gave there life to GOD and they came out of that type of lifestyle and admitted that what they were doing was wrong according to the BIBLE!
Here is a thought to ponder………..If everyone in the world turned homosexual today, in 100 years the world would be without people. That alone tells you that homosexuality is perverted. The Bible says it is not natural.
I guess we’re just old-fashioned here in Molino, but our opinions count just as much as the liberals, so respect our opinion and we’ll respect yours. We aren’t ever going to agree, but your comments on sexuality are a lot more accepted now-a-days than ours. To Atmore–I agree with you. Their sexuality Does have something to do with this crime. There were Men very desperate to get these dresses for some drag contest. That’s a problem :/
Excuse me…….it doesn’t matter how these folks live their lives, the issue here is they have been accused of stealing.. HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!! That matters!!!!!
Very well put anonymous… I am also a gay female proud citizen
ATMORE and straightman, you two are great examples of what’s wrong with this world in relationship to the view of homosexuality and gender.
ATMORE, who are you to say what someone else should and shouldn’t wear? The type of clothes a person wears has absolutely nothing to do with their character. I mean, I’m a women and I wear men’s clothing if I like it. I also go to college (and do very well) and consider myself to be a “good person.” “Manly jobs?” Please tell me you’re kidding. What do you consider a “manly job?” A job is a job. If doing drag is what makes you happy, go for it. It’s better than being stuck at a dead end job that you hate just to pay the bills. It’s not like they’re forcing anyone to watch it. Oh, and by the way, you CAN NOT change someones sexual orientation or gender identity through prayer or any other means. Homosexuality is not a disease, impairment, or choice. Who would choose to be a second class citizen and be wrongly discriminated against for who they are? If someone says they’ve been converted, they either weren’t gay in the first place or they’re living a sad lie.
Straightman, are you really going to pull the anatomy card? Seeing as homosexuality doesn’t directly involve the physical body but more the way the brain is wired, your point is pretty irrelevant don’t you think? No, I’m not insinuating that homosexuality is a psychiatric problem. It’s more of a normal variant on human sexual behavior. It’s always been around (even in the Bible!) and will continue to be around. Did you know there are “gay” animals? Seems pretty natural to me.
I really can’t understand why people get so upset when it comes to the way gay people live their lives. How can the fact that two people of the same sex love each other in a emotional and romantic way be that big of a deal to you? Focus on something of importance.
By the way, I feel they should be punished for stealing the dresses. Stealing is stealing. The fact that they were using them for drag is irrelevant and it’s a shame that it has become the focus of the story.
—- A fully functioning, intelligent, happy, productive, and GAY citizen.
I think you straightman need to open your eyes and welcome to the world.. Love is love and doesn’t matter what color, race or sex you are..
simply anatomy will tell you that boys don’t belong with boys, acceptable clothing does not consist of dresses, which signifies what they might believe or are involved with. homosexuality is a perversion and should be treated as such. I don’t know if they are gay or just freaks, but it does make a good story.
Super Freak!
Seems no lessons learned from the tragic event back in February. It is sad to think these men watched two of their friends die in a wreck, were critically injured themselves and decided that stealing was the thing to do now. I think they all should look back and use the brain that God gave them to put their lives on track.
Blue, I understand how you feel.
oh and doing something positive in their lives can’t consist of wearing a dress? really?
So you’re judging them for what their preferences are? And I agree it was wrong for them to steal but the fact that wear dresses should play no factor in it and has nothing to do with them or men in general who do like to dress as such. They are young and could’ve made better decisions as far as breaking into stores and stealing but you judge them by what they wear? Good men can wear dresses too and by saying what you did you are downing a group as a whole.
Good young men dont break in stores and nail shops and No men do not wear dresses.I truely do not believe they would have been stealing if they were doing something positive with thier lives.They had a image to keep up by doing drag so they done something stupid by stealing.These are kids and my opinion is they can make a change.Im very sure their family would rather see them in college instead of in jail for stealing dresses.
To ATMORE, does it really matter if they wore pants or dresses? Since when does something someone wears make them a good person? A man in a dress can’t be a good person? Come on…
The point is: they would have committed the crime anyway, whether it was men’s clothes or ladies’ clothes.
Thank YOU MOLINO MOM!!!!
Im not trying to judge any one but we all know MEN WEAR PANTS NOT DRESSES.MY issue is why not college, why not a real job,why not the army or something positive.They are young men and can do so much more with thier life than drag.What real mother or fathers wants to see thier kids commit such a crime and do drag?It can happen to me. I have kids and i would be devastated.As i said the car wreck blog stated that they were good young men,and yes they do need a turn around so that they can be just that.GOOD YOUNG MEN!!!
Their sexual preference isn’t the story and what they did with the dresses wasn’t either. They stole them, flat out, and nothing else should be said. I think everyone has made a mockery of this whole thing and it is sad that we live in such a close minded city, which is very rich in the homosexuals. There are men who like to dress as women and women who like to dress as men.. Get over it! The story should read stolen dresses recovered and who were involved, no reason to bring up that the men wore the dresses…. that was just a dig on the people for being who they are, no what they did.
bruno wrote ” Their sexual preference has nothing to do with the crime they committed”
two of them were men that were stealing hundreds of dresses to wear. I don’t know where you shop, but where I shop, the dresses are in the women’s department. I don’t think there are too many dresses in the men’s department down at walmart.
Yes, we need gay converters in this county for these kids! Come on people! Let’s treat these individuals as theifs and nothing else. Their sexual preference has nothing to do with the crime they committed.
This is just sad.These boys are just babies.Where are the fathers and the mothers in their life.They should be in college or having manly jobs.They are too young to be at a night club doing drag.Seem to me as if the car wreck would have been enuff to make to some drastic changes.Sometimes kids dont learn until it is too late.Someone had to know that they were stealing from these shops/stores..And Kendrick is such a pretty girl even though she may look like a boy,what is she doing is this mess.So So sad i hate to see young kids make a mess of thier life when they have so much to look forward to.We parents have to set an example and be role models and make rules and stick to them.I understand that they are of age and have a mind of thier own but sometimes we can make change happen..Prayer changes peoples and then in turn people changes things.I hope and pray that think about what they have done and make a turn around before it is too late.I hope the parents step forward and try to help them make this turn around.Im not saying that their parents are bad people bc no parent is perfect,i just hope they get them some help and let them know that they can be better men and women than this.Stealing dresses,its bad that they were stealing but it even worse to me what they were stealing and what they were stealing them for.I read the correct story and from the blog the boys seems to be good boys,just need a turn around in thier life.Good men and prayers in thier life may help.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh on this Tues. morning. Even the other two comments made me laugh!!
Yep, that about says it. “Good Grief”.
good grief